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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27861073">Again?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanthinkofausername/pseuds/icanthinkofausername'>icanthinkofausername</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012), DC Extended Universe, Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014), The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Confusing, Crossover, Fighting, Gen, Long, No porn this is a christian author, Plot Holes Galore, WIP, What Have I Done, Worst thing I have ever written, ahhh, i guess, strip club, that's false I'm agnostic, wrote this when I was like 13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:07:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>33,379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27861073</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanthinkofausername/pseuds/icanthinkofausername</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There was another goddamn wormhole opening up in Central City. Oliver had been alerted by the Justice League signal in his suit when he was out on patrol in Star City, making his rounds. He was wearing the less colorful version of his suit, the one that blended into the city. This new suit was better suited to Star City’s muted shades of grey, though still keeping the general Green Arrow look. He liked it, even if it needed to be worn in. Felicity had… underestimated some areas of the suit and it was a little too tight for his liking. The beeping yellow light light on his dark green gloves immediately drew his attention from where he was watching the ground near a high-risk jewelry store.<br/>The message had just said, “unexpected wormhole high threat backup probably needed! Aliens??? - barry”. Obviously Oliver had been confused and slightly exasperated by this, but he headed over to Central City anyway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>121</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. High Threat Level</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey! so: this is important. I. know. virtually. nothing. about DC other than I like the vibe more than I like the billionaire vibe of the marvel movies. so this takes place like right after Wells left in the flash universe, and somewhere after Kara's big battle thingy in season two. alright? alright.<br/>also. I just needed to do SOMETHING with this 126-page google doc, so I hope someone enjoys. it's basically just extra crossover umbrella academy content. go figure, and read on!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There was another goddamn wormhole opening up in Central City. Oliver had been alerted by the Justice League signal in his suit when he was out on patrol in Star City, making his rounds. He was wearing the less colorful version of his suit, the one that blended into the city. This new suit was better suited to Star City’s muted shades of grey, though still keeping the general Green Arrow look. He liked it, even if it needed to be worn in. Felicity had… underestimated some areas of the suit and it was a little too tight for his liking. The beeping yellow light light on his dark green gloves immediately drew his attention from where he was watching the ground near a high-risk jewelry store. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The message had just said, “unexpected wormhole high threat backup probably needed! Aliens??? - barry”. Obviously Oliver had been confused and slightly exasperated by this, but he headed over to Central City anway. They could only afford to dispatch Oliver at that time, as the gangs were acting up in Star City and the rest of the team was scattered all over the city dealing with them. It only took about ten minutes of Oliver driving there on his motorcycle for Barry to figure out he wouldn’t make it in the time frame he wanted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry met Oliver halfway and carried him to the site. Star City was a fair distance away from Central City, but Barry could handle it. He seemed very upset about this particular wormhole, but in the rush to get him there he didn’t tell Oliver much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Superman and Batman and everyone else on the Justice League were too busy right now for something that may or may not be a threat, but Superman had sent Kara to check it out with Oliver, just for sheer numbers. Kara and Oliver knew Barry, anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Oliver was dropped in an alley about a half a mile behind S.T.A.R Labs, he’d had to lean against a brick wall to keep from hurling. Barry was zipping back and forth, talking to Cisco and Cait back at the base. Felicity was getting a cup of coffee, but she didn’t know shit about wormholes so that was okay. Besides, she was mostly useful when they had a basic idea of what they were fighting. Or even if they were fighting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver checked in with Felicity, making sure she was fired up and ready to out-think the aliens before focusing on the flashing, undulating wormhole floating between two central city buildings. Barry had made the police evacuate said buildings, and then he’d quietly ordered them to go. Oliver was grateful, as he had more than ample cause to be arrested. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The portal was mesmerising, sort of like a sideways blue whirlpool; he’d never seen anything like it. Distantly, through it, he thought he could hear prolonged screaming. Oliver sidled up to Barry, who was staring at it warily with crossed arms. “Exactly how long has it been-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Twelve minutes and a half,” interrupted Barry anxiously. “I thought we’d accidentally opened another portal but Cisco says it’s not from any universe we’ve seen before. It also looks a little different, but Cisco says it’s really similar. Just… a little further than we’ve been before.” Oliver had seen some pretty crazy things, but the cause of strange portals was almost always Barry’s fault, on their side of things. So it was a good thing Oliver had come. Aliens with an agenda was probably bad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara suddenly landed gently beside them, next to one of the garbage bins in the alley. “I heard aliens?” she said calmly, watching the portal. </span>
</p><p><span>“Possibly. It opened independently, so slim chances that anything coming out of that is going to be friendly anyway. Good to have you here.” Oliver didn’t look at her, and instead knocked an arrow while he glared at the throbbing blue light. He moved away from Barry to a side position where he could shoot things without fear of hitting something with his elbow. </span> <span>Nodding, Kara flew into the air to hover behind it, forming a ring of vigilantes around the throbbing thing. Oliver could just make out her outline behind the undulating blue light. She put her hands on her hips. “Alright. But, is there any chance it’s just going to stay the-”</span></p><p>
  <span>It crackled. Oliver could suddenly make out a couple faces, and hear much louder, much realer, screaming. He took a step back, raising his bow, and nodded to Barry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was getting louder, and brighter, and Oliver had to take another step back. Then there was a pop, and seven people tumbled through the air, yelling their heads off. They landed in a heap of limbs and clasped hands. The portal zapped out of existence a second after they fell. One of them (a </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid?</span>
  </em>
  <span>) quickly disentangled himself from the group and stood up, immediately fixating his frantic eyes on Kara. “What the hell?” he said, running a hand through his black hair, stumbling. He turned and saw Barry, fizzling with lighting. “What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he repeated. Oliver could sympathize. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell?</span>
  </em>
  <span> was also running through his head right now. The adults behind him started to groan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hands up!” Oliver barked, drawing back his bow further, and three of them obeyed, scrambling to a sort of assembly. One of the women was unconscious and in another’s arms, and one had to throw up when he attempted to stand. The other one who didn’t raise his hands, in the hoodie, seemed indifferent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The others shied away from the man who’d puked. “Klaus, what the hell?” one of them said, disgusted. This man had a scar on one side of his cheek, and knives strapped all over his body. Once he was done hauling the man who had puked to his feet, he watched Oliver and Kara intently, reaching for a knife before Barry shook his head. The Knife Man then put his hands up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver himself watched Knife Man with more care. The group looked human, which was reassuring. Well except maybe the man built like a wineglass. He divided his attention between Knife Man and Wineglass, classifying them as the most dangerous, though the big man probably couldn’t do much because of the woman lying unconscious in his arms. She seemed to be wearing a fancy white suit, which was weird. Weirder than even the man with the rainbow slits in his pants or the boy in the uniform and bowling shoes. Wineglass whipped around between Barry, Kara, and Oliver, not knowing what to do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“State your name, rank, and intention,” growled Oliver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, just please wait a goddamn minute,” growled Wineglass, turning to the boy, who was staring at Kara. “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>the hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>did you do?” he asked in horror, looking at the boy, who was staring at Kara. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I, uh, may have made another mistake,” he said, squinting, hands still up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the whole group. “My name is Supergirl, and this is Earth, which I have sworn to protect.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver stepped closer and growled out, “If you’re here to invade or cause harm, I’d advise you get back to where you came from.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re not here to cause harm! We’re, uh…” the big one stuttered, looking to the others. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Refugees,” supplied the one who had thrown up in a whiny voice, with a glance at the woman in white draped in the huge man’s arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Forgive me if I don’t take your word for it,’ said Oliver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve had our share of interdimensionales and aliens. Friendly ones like Supergirl here are rare,” added Barry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The group instantly formed a protective circle, watching the League with suspicious eyes, only one sitting on the outside, seemingly careless. He was one of the ones who hadn’t put his hands up, and was instead staring at them with a confused, slightly sick expression. He put a hand to his neck, checking his pulse, and his eyes widened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid shrugged distractedly. “You know. The usual. Apocalypse, childhood trauma.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity’s voice rang in his ear. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hey, Ollie, is that a tattoo on the kid’s wrist? That’s sick!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver narrowed his eyes as he saw what seemed to be a tattoo of an umbrella on his raised wrist. He saw the same on the other’s wrists, though he couldn’t quite see Wineglass or White Suit’s hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Knife Man suddenly pointed towards Kara. “Who’s she?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry frowned. “You don’t know who Supergirl is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The one who’d thrown up shrugged. “I know she’s got a giant ‘s’ on her chest and isn’t nearly as hot as that one, but that’s it.” He pointed at Barry, who took a step back in surprise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you could keep your eyes off of someone’s abs for one minute!” sighed the man still sitting on the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire group flinched, and then looked towards him, jaws agape. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man who’d thrown up glared at him, eyeliner-lined eyes narrowing. “Shut the fuck up, I’m grieving.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hold up. I think Five did something weird when he jumped. I feel… strange,” the man on the ground said, looking at his hands, turning them over to look at the backs. The rest of the strange group was slowly turning towards him, lowering their hands. Oliver wanted to snap at them, but they didn’t seem to be reaching for weapons. The conscious woman raised a hand to her mouth, but didn’t try to speak. The knife man tried to speak, but he stuttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost dropping the unconscious woman, the big man said, in a tone of wonderment, “You’re alive!” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was he… not alive before?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Oliver wondered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eyeliner turned back to them, and then looked at the man sitting on the floor. They gasped in unison. The man on the floor scrambled to his feet, and hesitantly stepped forward to the stuttering Knife Man’s hand. He touched it, and after a pause they wrapped each other up in a hug and had a muffled exchange.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” warned Oliver, pointing his arrow at the Knife Man. They paid him no attention. He didn’t understand what was happening, and that worried him. Why were they acting like Hoodie Dude had died or something? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman who was conscious tapped the kid’s shoulder. She had a bandage over her throat (maybe she got her throat cut? Gruesome.) so she had to point to Kara. The boy, seemingly stunned, cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Kara. “Well, that was unforeseen,” he said. “Anyway, back to the fact we’re in an alternate dimension,” he continued. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Knife Man lifted his head off the Hoodie Man’s shoulder. “You what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid stuck his hands in his pockets. “I may have transported us to a parallel universe. I don’t know how I did it, and I don’t know if I can do it again, but we’re here now. Good news is the Commission probably can’t follow us here, but bad news…” he pointed at Oliver. “We’re invaders in somebody else’s world now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, what’s your name?” Knife Man asked, pointing at Oliver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You first,” he growled. He heard Barry muttering to himself, probably talking to Cisco. “And what’s the Commission?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy looked warily up at the arrow. “Do you want real names, superhero names, or the names we call each other?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Real names,” said Oliver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy rolled his eyes. “You sure? The ones on our birth certificates?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver nodded, somehow feeling he was playing with him. He glanced at the other dimension-hoppers, who were also smirking, though Wineglass was sighing at the little one’s games. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara floated closer, causing Knife Man and the kid to make fighting stances until she backed off. “Tell us, kid. We need something to call you when we lock you up.” she said slowly, putting her hands on her hips. Oliver knew that seemingly innocent posture meant she was getting annoyed and was about to fight someone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His lips made a feral grin, and Oliver saw a little bit of blood on his cheek. “Fine. Here,” Five said with the voice of someone placating a small child, smiling the smile of an impatient person surrounded by red tape. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We are the Umbrella Academy.” The one with the rainbow slits in his pants bowed mockingly. “That’s Number One,” he pointed at the big man, “carrying Number Seven, in the white. That’s Number Three,” she waved nervously, “that’s Number Two,” the Knife Man, “and Number Six’s over there-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther muttered under his breath, “Surprisingly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy shushed him. “With Number Four.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry folded his arms. “Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really,” said the one who had been named Number Four in tired tones. He leaned over to the boy and whispered, “We’re going with those names?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded impatiently. “Yes, Number Four.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s</span>
  <em>
    <span> your </span>
  </em>
  <span>name?” asked Oliver, who had noticed that the boy’s name had been omitted by that lineup. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Guess,” he said dryly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Number Five,” Kara announced, after counting on her fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Number Five made jazz hands, which caused Oliver to immediately put his bow up. He frowned at him before slowly putting his hands up again. He turned Kara. “Good job. You win the prize.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weird names,” remarked Barry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weird family,” countered Two. Family? They didn’t look anything alike. Crime family? </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Oliver cocked his head. “What’s the Commission? Some alien agency?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you need to know?” Five sneered, eyebrows narrowing as he surveyed the group like he was considering putting a bullet in their heads. “Just let us go on our merry way, and we won’t bother you any longer.” The moxie on this kid. Oliver didn’t know why, but he immediately reassessed his assessment of who was the most dangerous. Something about him made the hair on the back of Oliver’s neck rise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Supergirl rose a few inches, hovering with great importance over the small group. “We are the Justice League, and we protect all of humankind. We need you to come with us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re an anomaly,” added Oliver. “We need to know exactly what you are. We can get your exact story when we have you in a safe environment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry looked between him and Number Five. “Well, isn’t it obvious? They’re from an alternate dimension. We’ve dealt with stuff like that before.” The family glanced between each other, nervous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but which one?” asked Oliver. “Peaceful? Dangerous? Everyone there has giant tentacles in their chests?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He saw Six flinch and Four double over with laughter. Five raised an eyebrow. “It’s shit,” he said simply. “We don’t have a Supergirl, certainly, nor a-” he made air quotes, “-Justice League.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We do have an apocalypse,” supplied One. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Caused by what?” asked Barry curiously. Almost simultaneously, the group flinched and looked at the girl in white. “How did you get here anyway?” Barry added, stepping closer. He seemed to trust the group enough to do so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> They recovered, however, and Two changed the subject. “Your turn. Names,” he demanded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver shook his head. “We’re under no obligation to answer your questions. Listen, The Flash here has a facility where we can study you until we’re sure tha-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five and Two took a step forward, dropping their hands into fighting stances. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver made a decision, and fired an arrow at Number Two’s calf, but it </span>
  <em>
    <span>curved </span>
  </em>
  <span>him, clattering to the ground. He smirked. Oliver was taken aback. Clearly these people were weird, and powers were a given in Central City, but he just wasn’t used to it. Who were these people?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think so,” growled Five. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. We’ve had enough experimentation in our lives,” agreed Two. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara flew forward. “I don’t think that was a suggestion.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Five looked her up and down, like he was judging her outfit. Oliver raised his bow but Five took no care. “Number Six?” he said thoughtfully. Oliver glanced at Kara at his tone. That was the tone of someone about to fuck some stuff up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a startled pause, but Six eventually looked up. “Yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think you could, you know,” he nodded his head to the side, “like you did in the theater?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean it’s been a while in the real world, but I bet so,” he replied, still seeming slightly miffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oliver nodded to Barry, who was already speaking into the comms, probably to Kara. He suddenly heard Kara’s voice in his comms. “You go after Five and Two,” she whispered. “They seem more your speed. I’m taking Three, and the big guy. I forgot his name.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s One,” he whispered back. “I assume Barry’s got Four and Six?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Five looked at One gravely. “Protect V-Seven. Protect Seven. Don’t wake her up, though, we don’t need that right now.” Luther nodded solemnly. “Four, stay back, Three, on a hunch, is your voice okay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oliver saw Kara nod to his previous comment. “Yeah. That thing with the arrow was weird. Who knows how they got here, anyway?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman named Three touched her throat, and said hesitantly, “No?” She grinned, and ripped the bandage off. “What did you do with that jump, Five?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five shrugged, clearly itching for a fight. “I don’t know. I was trying for two weeks ago, and here we are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They formed a ring again, and Two took out a knife from his suit, the other hand hovering over the knife strapped to his thigh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Supergirl glanced up at Roy and the rest of the team. “No killing. I want them tied up and restrained,” she reminded them. She turned to the police. “I’d like it if you got out of the way,” she said, louder. As she cracked her knuckles, they packed up and left. Maybe the police here were used to supernatural battles. Oliver certainly wasn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver turned his comms to his team. “Arrows, I want that one conscious, if possible, so don’t shoot him too badly.” Oliver pointed to Five. He had some questions for him and, however young he was he seemed to be the leader of this ragtag band.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Roy didn’t deign to reply, instead letting an arrow loose, towards Two. He reacted unusually, throwing a knife at it. It sliced the arrow perfectly in half. Barry gasped but ran towards Six. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver didn’t dwell on it, instead rushing towards Five, intending to tie him up or knock him unconscious and deal with the rest. But he blinked, and Five was gone. Oliver skidded to a stop, and then turned to see Five a good ten feet away, leaning against a building with a lead pipe in his hands. “Looking for me?” he said, grinning a feral grin. Oliver blinked in surprise, and turned his bow into its staff form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then there was a sucking of energy and Oliver felt a whack at his back. He turned, swinging, slightly off balance. He missed, Five ducking below his guard and ramming the pipe into his gut. In his peripheral he could see a mess of tentacles and the red lighting that meant Barry was running. Strangely, Kara was seated peacefully on the ground, smiling happily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d made a mistake in getting distracted, and Five had landed another blow, this time to Oliver’s neck, causing a whomph of air to push out of his chest. He didn’t double over through sheer force of will, and he stuck out his leg to sweep Five to the floor. The kid teleported again and whacked Oliver’s kneecap, underestimating the amount of armor Oliver had on. Five shrugged at the clang and teleported upward to knock the bar across Oliver’s face. That was it. Oliver narrowed his attention, focusing on Five’s patterns as he punched and ducked. Funnily enough, the kid fought like he was used to much more strength or a bigger body. They both landed a few blows, Oliver scoring a slash across the kid’s arm, which he felt a little guilty about, as he was a child. Damn, though, this kid was good. Five moved with the intent to kill, but as his lead pipe was his only weapon that was sadly futile. Eventually Oliver punched again, aiming for Five’s face but fully expecting to miss due to the kid’s strange ability when his fist met flesh. The kid’s fists warped blue for just a minute before he hit the pavement, collapsing into an unconscious heap. Huh. Maybe he had a limit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver’s attention switched to the battle as he shook his hand out. Six had...tentacles coming out of his chest. Huh. Number One was covering Seven’s body with his own, arrows bristling from his back. He didn’t seem to mind, though, and was tossing aside anyone who came close with a casual sweep and a growl. Four was scrambling away, and he was looking somewhere behind Oliver with a confused expression. Oliver’s attention was pulled by a shout from Barry. One of Two’s knives had found their mark and pierced him in the calf. Barry wouldn’t be running for a while, that was for sure. Oliver glanced to Five. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tie him up later… </span>
  </em>
  <span>Oliver rushed to Kara, skidding to his knees as he tried to shake her shoulders. She would turn the tide in this fight, the girl was like a one-person army. “Supergirl?” he growled. She just looked back at him with a dazed expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everything is fine,” she said, smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Kara, it’s not!” he demanded. Dammit. One of the aliens must have done something to her. He turned and saw Six tucking his tentacles back into his chest (</span>
  <em>
    <span>how did they fit in there?</span>
  </em>
  <span>) and turning to the big man on the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon! We gotta run!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The big man grunted, and stumbled to his feet, still carrying the girl in the white suit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Knife Man also heard, and was rushing towards the fallen Five when Oliver tackled him, bow forgotten next to Kara. They wrestled, grabbing at knives and limbs until they heard Roy and Four screaming. They whipped their heads around to see Four summoning… what? He could see blue figures swarming Roy, shouting his name. His heart stuttered in his chest. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ghosts?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Two laughed from beneath him. “Attaboy, Klaus,” he growled, before shoving Oliver off him and kicking him away. Oliver let out a cry of pain from where he was on the ground. Somehow Two had kicked the exact spot the little bastard had jammed the pipe into his ribs. Sprinting towards Five, Two picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. “Guys! Al-Three! Four! C’mon!” he shouted, heading towards Number One and Number Six. Roy, who had grappled up to a higher building, still followed by one or two blue figures, let loose an arrow. He was badly shaken by the ghosts, and it pinged off a lamp post. The seven figures ran down an alley. Oliver eventually got up, groaning, and waved at Barry. “Stay here. Call Clark and anyone else who can respond. I’m going to tail them, see where they end up, maybe get one of them when they’re alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry nodded, wincing at the blood flooding in a river down his leg. “I’ll see if I can fix whatever they did to Kara.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver grappled to a nearby building, where he saw Two jimmying a minivan, ushering the rest of his (family?) inside, with Three climbing into the front seat, after she threw her heels into a dumpster. They sped off, with Oliver following close behind. He hopped from building to building, watching the family, praying someone arrived soon to help them with this new threat. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Coldhearted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Five woke up in someone’s arms. He jumped, flailing, his head hurting like hell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego dumped him unceremoniously onto the floor of the car they were apparently in. “Calm down, you little prick,” he smirked, insufferable as always.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five looked up at him through squinted eyes. “Where are we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, we beat those guys’ asses and escaped. So now we’re in a minivan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sat up. “Did you kill them all?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brother frowned. “No, of course not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anger at the incompetence of his family boiled to the surface. “Why not? They’re probably tailing us right now!” Five scrambled to his feet, peering out of the grimy window. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther turned from the passenger seat. “Okay, but you need to answer some questions. What did you do? What is this place?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The multiverse theory ran through Five’s head. The scientific applications of what he just did was enormous. He just </span>
  <em>
    <span>proved</span>
  </em>
  <span> the multiverse theory! Also, how had he done what he did? Maybe the added weight of his siblings had screwed with his projections, sending him wildly off course. Maybe every time he jumped through space or time he landed in a different universe where things were so similar he couldn’t tell the difference, like swapping places with different Fives in a huge circle over and over again, different decisions overlapping in an infinite loop--</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh. In layman’s terms, we’re in a different universe, where some things are the same, but not all of them,” he said, running a hand through his hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you get us back?” Allison asked anxiously from the driver’s seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five shrugged. “I don’t know. But, without the addition of the supers running around trying to capture us this world seems okay. No Temps Commission so far, and no apocalypse yet.” He glanced around for Vanya, who was in Luther’s arms in the front seat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison’s grip on the wheel tightened. “Some of us have things we like about the old world, Five.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh. Claire. Five stumbled forward in the moving car to lay a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “I can try to get us back. I don’t know if I can, but I can try, Allison.” Maybe it was just the hit to his head, but he was suddenly glad that they’d ended up together instead of being alone again. It would have been so hard to get separated from his family again. He couldn’t let that happen again. Everyone else had gotten fourteen years with their siblings. He had to make sure they made it in this world long enough to get to know them like they knew each other. However hard-shelled he seemed on the outside, the only reason he was so driven about the apocalypse was so that he could be with his family again. He had to make sure they stayed together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded, eyes still on the road. Five glanced backwards at the rest of his family. Klaus and Ben were in the back, Luther squished into the front seat with Vanya (who was thankfully still passed out), and Diego was sitting with his feet up on another seat. They were all here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, Five. What’s the plan?” asked Klaus, leaning his elbows on the seat in front of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The plan. Right. Five thought for a bit. “Stop the van for a minute,” he said. They did, turning into a main street, tires splashing in the drizzling night rain. Five hopped out and told his family, “Stay here. I’m going to get a phone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t hard to find someone walking around with their phone unlocked. He nabbed it, only trusting himself to teleport once. When he got back, Ben was nearer the front of the car. “I mean, it’s fine that you knocked down the statue. Looked nothing like me anyway,” he was saying. Five rolled his eyes, knowing that Luther was likely apologizing for everything he’d ever done. He tended to go into that mode whenever he’d done something bad. Like enabling their sister to bring about the end of days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d run a plan through his head as he’d gotten the phone, and it involved splitting up, but that basically had to be done. And it would have Five taking the most risk of getting captured, which he was fine with. It was his siblings getting hurt he was worried about. Five and leaned into the door, not quite going inside yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. I’ve got a phone, can someone use it to find a local, like, hunting shop? Maybe a cooking store for knives,” he said quietly, handing the phone to Klaus, who was nodding. He had everyone’s attention now. “Allison can rumor the shopkeepers to give it to us for free. Maybe get some food and essentials as well.” She winced a little, probably still hurting from her last attempt at rumoring someone. He snatched the pad of paper that Ben was inexplicably holding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here’s what I want,” he said, scribbling down the name of his favorite pistol and some other things. He handed it to Diego, who took the pen eagerly. “We can hide out in this van for a while, though we’re gonna have to find a place eventually. I’d like Ben to stay here with Vanya, to be there when she wakes up. I think he’d be best at calming her down.” Ben nodded, a little unsure. “Klaus, and Diego, I’d like to know more about this city, so if you two could ask some people, dead or alive, about life here, that’d be peachy,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther looked at him. “What can I do?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five pursed his lips. “You can go with Allison. I want someone to protect her.” Allison scoffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not protect. Just help. Have someone to watch your back if you have to beat people up,” Five clarified, not missing the smirk on her face. Five also didn’t miss the look of hurt resignation on Luther’s face. Yeah, he’d have some coping with his mistakes to do. So would Vanya, actually. Maybe they’d bond later or something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you gonna do?” asked Ben. Always the smart one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five grinned, glad that the headache was slowly dissipating. “Well,” he leaned in conspiratorially. “The man in the green who knocked me out in the fight has been following us ever since we left, and I think I’d like a rematch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus hissed. “Five, no! You’ve already been knocked out once today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” chimed in Luther, frowning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five shrugged, and put his hands in his pockets. “I’m an assassin. It’s part of what I do, darling. Meet back here in an hour. If I don’t come back, well… get Vanya somewhere safe and do some negotiating.” He almost left, but hesitated. “Don’t do anything stupid, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He heard Klaus behind him when he left. “Did he just call me darling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re nobody’s darling, Klaus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coldhearted, Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Monologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A million questions were ping-ponging their way through Allison’s head. What the fuck? was one of them. A second was : a hunting shop in the middle of the city? Really. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison, after some extensive online research, found a gun shop called “Coast Armory and Indoor Range” and an archer’s place called “The Target”. And, because she figured Diego would appreciate it, she put a cooking place on there too to get knives. Though it was probable the Coast Armory had actual throwing knives. Allison commandeered a vehicle (she asked nicely) and drove to a REI first, Luther tailing her like a lost puppy. She dropped in to get a duffel bag and a backpack, and left within five minutes. Then the drive to the Armory. She sighed, tapping her hands on the wheel, trying to ignore the awkward silence. She cranked up the radio, but didn’t recognize any of the songs until she turned it to an oldies station. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they arrived at the Armory, she hopped out with Luther. “Could you get the duffel bag, please?” she asked him quietly. He obeyed as she looked at the slightly crumpled paper in her hand. What a shopping list. Hunting rifles and throwing knives. Five had requested a pistol with some weird name and, even weirder, an axe. Allison didn’t claim to understand Five, but everyone else’s requests were pretty simple. A couple guns for Klaus (old brands, like WW2 old) and Ben wanted… she squinted. Ben wanted Skittles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was basically a warehouse outside of the city limits, grey and unappealing but trying to make up for it with a ridiculous dragon logo. Luther held open the door for her, and she walked in barefoot. Those heels were wearing on her, so she’d dumped them outside the van. It wasn’t really a shop, but there was a counter where you could check in. Allison strolled up to the counter and handed the list over to the gruff-looking man in a baseball cap. “I heard a rumor…” she began with resignation. She hated this, feeling the slice of the bow across her throat with every word. Rumoring that powered girl, Supegirl, had been really difficult. “...that you gave me everything on this list for free, and put it in this bag.” Luther put the duffel bag on the counter. The man took it, and turned around to walk into what was presumably where the guns and things were kept. Allison leaned her back against the counter and crossed her arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther gave her an awkward smile. God, he looked so out of place wherever he went. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison looked anywhere but him. What he’d done in the theater was forgivable, but she’d need some time. He’d betrayed both his sisters. She remembered Vanya smiling as Allison watched her play… she hadn’t realized just how good Vanya was. So much of Allison’s life was built off listening, it was astounding to realise she’d never listened to her sister before. If only Luther had realized that Vanya wasn’t another mission threat, that she was a person and a sister. If he’d realized, maybe they’d be with her daughter now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison shifted, and looked over her shoulder to where the employee was stuffing whole boxes of knives into the duffel bag. Her eyes lighted on something hanging on a peg. She leaned over the counter. “Excuse me?” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man looked at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pointed at what she wanted. “I heard a rumor that you put those noise-cancelling headphones into the bag as well,” she said. He did so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard Luther’s curious voice over her shoulder. “What are those for?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Vanya,” she said delicately. “Her power comes from noise, right? So I figured headphones might make everyday life easier once we get settled.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glanced over her shoulder to where Luther was standing. He was nodding, surprisingly. “Yeah. To keep her under control.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison shook her head disparagingly. “No, Luthor! To </span>
  <em>
    <span>help her </span>
  </em>
  <span>control it. She’s not an animal that needs to be sedated,” she said angrily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He flushed, and his whole body seemed to deflate. “Oh, yeah, that makes more sense. Sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison shook her head. Luther had a lot to learn, that was for sure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man Allison had rumored placed the bag on the counter, making a distinct clunk. He then placed a rifle and some chips beside it. “I couldn’t fit everything in,” he said, concerned. “And it said to get some food, but all we have is chips,” he continued, offering the list. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. That’s okay.” Allison blushed. She’d been in such a rush to get the rumoring over with that she’d forgotten to mention that he should just get the weapons. Allison took the list and let Luthor take the rifle and the duffel bag, leaving the chips.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their heads whipped around as they heard a crash from outside the warehouse. Luther immediately stepped in front of Allison, a hand spread to protect her. Allison scoffed internally, but she turned back to the man behind the counter. “I heard a rumor you got everyone in the building out of here and to safety,” she said urgently. They might be fugitives, but they weren’t villains. She turned back to Luther, who was peering out of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows next to the windows. Allison raced to him, looking at the girl who’d landed outside their building. Supergirl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did she find us?” Luther asked in astonishment.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison turned to Luther. “I’ll handle this. You watch my back, her partners might be here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He paused before nodding grudgingly. Maybe he was taking Five’s advice and watching her back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison pushed open the doors, meeting Supergirl in the middle of the parking lot. She was so young... </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard a rumor…” Allison began, but Supergirl’s eyes didn’t turn white. “I heard a rumor…” she tried again. She frowned at Supergirl’s blank smile.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Supergirl smiled, pointing at her ears. “Earplugs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then there was a blur of blue and red, and Allison’s head hit the pavement. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>just fyi I have no feelings about this fic. it's dead to me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Spaceboy?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kara felt like she was screaming inside her own head. As soon as Arrow had tackled Five, Allison had turned to the charging Kara and said, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard a rumor…” and Kara had felt like she’d died. Her body froze, the atoms refusing to move. She could hear everything through a sort of bubble. “That everything was fine and you sat on the ground happily.” Dopamine rushed through her head, blinding her as she floated to a heap on the ground. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fight it!</span>
  </em>
  <span> she told herself. But she couldn’t. The wave of happiness crushed every thought of rebellion. It was like she had split into two distinct personalities. One of them was the outside Kara, the one who controlled her body and her actions. That one was sleepy and happy and content. The inside Kara was screaming. That one was her thoughts and her reasoning. That one was punching the glass and yelling furiously at her body. She dimly recognized the thud of bodies that meant a fight. She saw tentacles through a fog of glass and heard yelling from Barry and Oliver. It felt like ages until Green Arrow’s knees thudded in front of her. She heard him say her name and the outside Kara smiled. “Everything is fine,” she said. “Fix me!” screamed inside Kara. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The mysterious seven people had left, Kara realized sometime later. She twitched her fingers, watched Barry patch up his leg, talking into his ear. Inside Kara was gaining back some control. It was a struggle, shaking off the spell Allison had placed on her. She opened her mouth shakily. “B-Barry!” she croaked out from where she was sitting, the smile melting off her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked up from where he was kneeling. “You’re awake!” he said with relief. “Oh good, it wears off!” Barry pressed his ear. “Cisco, the persuasion just wore off. Uh-huh, twenty-eight minutes.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara blinked, flexing her fingers. “It’s been twenty-eight minutes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry nodded. “Yeah. Eight minutes for the battle and eighteen minutes since they escaped.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked around, seeing police officers searching the area, picking up bits of cloth that had been torn off of the clothes from the aliens. “Where’s Ollie?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Arrow? He’s tailing them right now,” he said. “Went off in a huff. Think he was ashamed to get beat up by a middle-schooler.” He smirked, zipping over to help Kara up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara grabbed his hand gratefully. She wasn’t hurting, not exactly, but her joints felt stiff and her muscles were kind of sore. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is this what old humans feel like?</span>
  </em>
  <span> She suddenly had a lot more respect for Mr. and Mrs. Kent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What does your team have on them?” she asked once she was up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry shrugged again. “Cisco knows they’re from another dimension. He added this thingy to my suit that scans for interdimensional… stuff.” He tapped the white flash symbol on his chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara smiled. “Stuff? Aren’t you, like, a scientist?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He frowned. “Scientist isn’t a job description. I’m not an interdimensional scientist, I’m a chemist. It’s an entirely different field.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara brushed her hair behind her ear. “Woah. Sensitive subject?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled apologetically. “Kinda. Sorry. Anyway, Cisco picked up some signs of space travel and, weirdly, time travel. Especially on the kid. Apparently, how did he put it, ‘that kid’s got more miles on him than my aunt’s old Toyota’.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara’s brow furrowed. “That’s weird. He did ask about the date, though. Maybe it’s a different day where they come from.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry nodded. “That’s true. That would explain it. So now we just have to figure out a way to send them back,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t they say something about an apocalypse?” Kara added. “Maybe they don’t want to go back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry shifted uncomfortably. “Well, they can’t stay here. This is my city. Besides, I only have three open cells at the labs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara cocked her head. “I have a spot where I can put aliens.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How many could you take? And they’re not aliens, they’re something close to meta-humans.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re from a different dimension. Close enough. And I could take all of them, if needed. My sister would be very happy,” she said, folding her arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, good,” he said. He went still, listening to his comms. Kara listened in with her super-hearing. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Barry, I can track them!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>an excited voice was saying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are they?” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“They’re mostly in pairs. Two of them are in an alley, not moving, and really close together, two of them are… also in an alley? What’s with them and alleys?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cisco…”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Right. Two of them are driving to, uh… looks like an indoor range. Either that or a chicken farm. They’re way out in the middle of nowhere. And one of them’s on a--oh, he’s not there anymore. That’s gotta be the spunky boy, he just teleported.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara switched her comms to Oliver. “Ollie. Who are you going after?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was some crackling, but he answered. “The little prick,” Oliver said gruffly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Arrow’s going after Five,” she told Barry. “I’ll take the two going to the indoor range.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry nodded, but cocked his head as Cisco came back in through the comms. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wait, Caitlyn just brought up a really good point. The woman with persuasion powers has gotta be the one going to the armory getting supplies. She’d be able to get them all for free.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara winced. “Well, I think I’m gonna go after them,” she decided. “I intend to have a very lengthy talk with her.” She hovered, fully intending to fly off, before Barry stopped her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kara, I’m faster,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not with that leg you’re not,” she pointed out. He glanced down at his bloody calf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine. Besides, I wanna find that guy who can summon ghosts. There’s a lot of trouble in Central City he could solve.” He paused again. Kara didn’t think to listen to his comms. Barry nodded suddenly. “Cisco says he can whip you up some special earplugs first. Stop by Star Labs.” He wagged a joking finger at her. “I don’t want our best weapon in their hands. ”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded. “That’s actually a really good idea. I’ll comm if I get in trouble,” she said brightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The flight to the labs was very short, but Cisco was already 3D printing the earplugs. “They’re specially designed for Kryptonian ears. There’s this material in there that I used on these sonic boom gloves this one time, and I had to make sure it didn’t deafen whoever was using it, so I crafted this stuff that’s completely soundproof.” He was waving his hands as he paced the lab, excitedly rambling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they were done, Kara flew off to the indoor range. It was eerily silent with the earplugs. She had to take her comms out, which was unfortunate, but they didn’t have enough time or material to make full-blown headphones. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She landed, deliberately making a crash. Kara didn’t really want to fight, but knocking Allison unconscious was the only way she’d be able to talk to whoever was with her. She strolled up to the building and saw the big ape man peeking through the window, Allison right behind him. She pushed past him and threw open the doors, marching up to Kara. Kara saw the words </span>
  <em>
    <span>rumor</span>
  </em>
  <span> pass her lips and sighed. Allison tried again. Kara smiled. “Earplugs,” she said. Then Kara punched her. Kara winced as she hit the pavement. “Sorry!” she said belatedly. Her fingers teased out the purple earplugs and she put her comms back in as what’s-his-name walked out. Number One! That was it. He looked angry. She floated upward, out of his reach, and smiled apologetically. “Sorry about that. Had to do it, or we couldn’t talk.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knelt hurriedly at Allison’s side, checking her vitals before standing. “You shouldn’t have hurt my sister,” he told Kara quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sister?” asked Kara. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blanched. He probably wasn’t supposed to say that. He swallowed, glancing back and forth between Allison and Kara, clearly trying to hold himself back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara floated closer. “You don’t look anything alike,” she said. “Wait.” She came to a realization. “Are you all a family?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard him curse underneath his breath. Finally, he looked directly into her eyes. “Yes. Adopted. Bought, more like,” he added quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instinctively, Kara floated until she was only a foot or two away from the big man. “Where did you come from?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He winced as he locked eyes with her. She saw his fist raise, and she raised her own to catch it, knowing that his bulk would easily be handled by her super strength. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She flew backward, hand crumpling under his fist. She managed to stay in the air, but her hand hurt like hell. Not your average giant, then. She flew up and out of his reach, and blasted the ground next to him with her eyes. He jumped, and looked at her with fear in his eyes. “Don’t move,” she warned. “Now. I want you to come back with me to National City. It’s a bit far away, but we’ve got a car,” she said, pointing at the only car still in the lot (the rest had squealed away). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head. “I can’t. My family--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have to. Or I’ll hurt you,” she said. “What was your name again?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swallowed, still holding his ground in front of his sister. “One,” he said grudgingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? That’s what people call you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One shook his head. “No. But Five wants us to use codenames, so that’s that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have a superhero name?” she asked curiously. She floated around to the back, and watched him follow her, protecting the woman on the ground with his body. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” he said, but didn’t elaborate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I tell you, will you leave?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara shrugged. “Sure.” She’d take the woman on the ground, though. She could leave the brute, he didn’t seem to have any interesting powers besides strength. Number Three, though… Alex would like Number Three. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Spaceboy,” he responded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Spaceboy? Not Spaceman?” she asked, looking for an angle to get to the woman. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Picked it as a kid,” he said awkwardly. “Are you gonna go now?” he added, almost pitifully. He really had no idea what he was doing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled. “Yeah. I’m gonna go now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kara flew up a little bit, and then zapped the area between him and the woman. He, understandably, jumped away. She then swooped in and carried the woman bridal style. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t hurt her!” she called as she soared off into the sky. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait! Allison!” he cried, his hand reaching up in desperation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She winced at the pain in his voice, but she had to do it. Kara looked at the sleeping woman. “Allison, huh? Well. You and I are going to have </span>
  <em>
    <span>loads</span>
  </em>
  <span> of fun.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ugh.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Everyone's a Criminal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ben was alive. He was</span>
  <em>
    <span> alive</span>
  </em>
  <span>! There was so many things he wanted to do. He wanted to touch everything. He wanted to read everything. He wanted to touch Allison’s hair, and call someone a dumbass besides Klaus and have them react. How many times had he done that and just watched them continue to talk? He wanted to yell at Five, and hug him, and tell Luther that even though he wasn’t a great leader he was still a valuable member of the team. He wanted to see how sharp Diego’s knives were (he was betting they were really sharp) and he wanted to </span>
  <em>
    <span>eat absolutely fucking everything he could</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Being assigned guard duty was both a blessing and a curse. For one thing, he was glad to finally be away from Klaus. But also, it was weird just being alive. How would Vanya react, when she woke up? He thought that Five might have overlooked the fact that he was, startlingly, alive, and that might come as a shock to Vanya. Five seemed weirdly chill about the whole thing. Ben supposed he’d had a lot longer to deal with his death in his years in the apocalypse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grinned from where he was seated on the floor of the van. He’d picked up the habit of sitting in increasingly weird places from his time being dead. Nobody thought to put out an extra chair for a ghost. Except his siblings did often leave an empty space for him, which, though weird, was really quite thoughtful. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben pressed his fingertips to his neck to feel his heartbeat. It was weird because he’d missed having a heartbeat. He hadn’t realised it was gone, when he was dead, but now that it was back he’d never forget it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now that he was alive, he tried to categorize his experience being dead. He had the sense he was forgetting it already, so he fished a notepad and a pen out of the glove compartment and tried to write it down. Was he always around, or just when Klaus summoned him? Well, he wasn’t always around, but he didn’t answer Klaus’s beck and call either. It was a little random, a little pulled by Klaus’s emotions, and a little bit of Ben’s will too. Where did he go when he wasn’t there? Sort of a void. Not really. He was aware of the world, but he didn’t experience it physically. Sort of the echo of the world in a void wrapped in bubble wrap and colored dark blue. It was hard to describe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he wrote down as much as he could stand, he lapsed into a comfortable silence, watching Vanya curled up on the couch like a cute, bisexual cat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything went a little still for a minute, just a brother in a van with his sleeping sister. Ben’s eyes were pulled away from where he was staring into the distance as Vanya stirred, white blob suddenly shifting as she rubbed at her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re awake!” said Ben, shifting to his knees and facing her, just a few feet away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya blinked slowly, eyes widening in shock. “Who are y-Ben?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blushed. “Uh, yeah. I’m alive now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-Where am I?” she asked, her breathing growing shorter as she glanced between Ben and the door. Ben scootched a little closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so you know how Five can sometimes time travel but he’s bad at it?” Ben said quietly, smiling a little. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-yeah…” she said slowly. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Please don’t blow anything up…</span>
  </em>
  <span> She was pretty calm, considering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, he tried to time travel all of us back so we could, you know, prevent the apocalypse,” Ben said slowly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya swallowed, looking down at her clothes. “You were going to kill me,” she said bluntly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” exclaimed Ben, waving his hands in a negatory gesture.Ben got even closer, trying to be calm. “We weren’t going to kill you, we’re going to try to help you!” He laid a calming hand on Vanya’s knee, smiling a little. It was amazing how he could do that now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya tucked her chin into her collar, or tried to. “Really?” she said, hopeful. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Ben said. “Anyway, Five messed up the jump and we ended up here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben elaborated when Vanya raised a quizzical eyebrow. “We’re in an alternate universe,” he explained. Her eyes widened. “Yeah, I know,” he breathed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why...why are we in a van?” she asked, surprisingly breathing a little easier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben ran a hand through his hair. “We sort of got in a fight,” he said with a shrug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What kind of fight?” she asked, drawing her knees in closer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, when we jumped out, we were surrounded by police and archers and these three powered people in, like, spandex. There was a dude dressed like Diego but with arrows and other stuff instead of knives, and a dude who was really, really fast. They called him the Flash, I think?” he was getting excited now as Vanya’s eyes widened. “And the floating girl. She was called Supergirl, but I heard the knife dude calling her Kara. She had </span>
  <em>
    <span>mad </span>
  </em>
  <span>powers. She could shoot lasers out of her eyes and she had super cold breath, but Allison, you know, rumored her before we could see any more.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, wait, not only are you alive, but, but, what I did to Allison-?” she stuttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben shrugged again. “I don’t know what Five did, but Diego seemed less cut up, too. Well, less cut up for Diego.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya leaned her head back against the grey-purple walls of the van. “Wow. That’s a...lot to process. Where are the others?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re in somewhere called Central City, so they’re trying to get information on the people who attacked us. Also supplies. And weapons. Diego’s low on knives,” he added. He knew he was rambling, it was just so good to finally be able to interact with someone! Especially Vanya. He’d missed Vanya.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shifted uncomfortably. “So… are any of them angry with me? A-are you angry with me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm…” he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Honestly? A little. I think you could have handled it a little better.” She deflated. “But I think the rest of our family could have also handled it a little better. It’s everyone’s fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How? None of them blew up the moon,” she said miserably. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. “It was my fault because I wasn’t there. I could have done more to get Klaus to help,” he said quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya shook her head. “No, no. It wasn’t your fault, you were dead, I mean-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have tried harder,” he shrugged. “Everyone had a hand in it. It was a little bit Five’s fault because he could have let everyone in on his plan a little sooner. He was being a prick about keeping secrets and he shouldn’t have been.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya sniffled, but smiled a bit. “He was a bit of a prick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you can’t wholly blame him for that! He was raised in a situation where he eventually was going to be a prick, like you were raised in a situation where you eventually were going to snap.” Ben squeezed her hand a little tighter. “It was Allison’s fault for trying to rumor you, but she was raised in a situation where she had to rumor her way into everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya was still. “I shouldn’t have lashed out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We all make mistakes. Like I said, situations. It was Klaus’s fault for not getting himself under control. I know him better than anyone, and besides you, he got the worst of it when we were kids,” Ben said quietly. “Dad forced him to do a lot of things he didn’t want to do, and now he doesn’t want to do anything. He’s afraid of the consequences of doing things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was Diego’s fault for being too revenge-oriented and not focusing on the big picture,” Ben spread the hand not holding Vanya’s. “And, well, you know Luther’s part,” he finished quietly. “But honestly? All of those things can be traced back to the bastard who raised us. So if you want to blame somebody, really, blame Dad.” Ben suddenly made a choice. The hand-holding was close, but it wasn’t close enough. Now that he was alive, and he wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>apart</span>
  </em>
  <span> from everything, he needed to spend every moment being as close to his siblings as he could. He suddenly drew in next to Vanya, snuggling close to her side and letting her drop her head onto his shoulder, hugging her from behind, their hands still clasped. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” whispered Vanya. “For understanding a little. I… I really missed you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I missed you too, Vanya,” Ben whispered back. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>also, all of this is completely unedited.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Bonding Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Diego didn’t understand what was happening. Five had said ‘alternate universe’, but that meant nothing to him. Five’s comment from the kitchen after he had popped back into their lives again still stung him. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That doesn’t make any sense. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, it would if you were smarter.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ouch. Well, maybe he wasn’t supposed to understand. Maybe he was meant to punch people who punched his siblings and leave the understanding to Five. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus seemed fidgety as they walked the alley, heading away from the main street. They’d been walking for about half an hour. “Let’s try your ghosts first, yeah?” Diego had suggested when they’d left the van. “Less of a chance someone’ll tell the police about us.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, sure, yeah. Good thing you put your knife suit away or nobody’d talk to us, eh?” Klaus had laughed, his voice breathy as he fidgeted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That had been sort of hard, leaving his suit at the car. Ben, always reasonable, and Luther had basically forced him to take it off, and while he was prepared to fight Luther on it, he didn’t want to fuck with Ben. Partially because everyone was stepping on glass around him (did he blame them for his death?) and partially because Ben could probably crush every one of his siblings except Vanya. Diego had kept some knives though, in his pocket and one strapped to his ankle. Now, half an hour later, Klaus had become increasingly distracted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright, Klaus?” Diego laid a hand on Klaus’s shoulder as they navigated around a puddle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, fine. It’s just weird without Ben here,” he explained, glancing around. “I just keep expecting to see him and he’s not there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little freedom will be good for you, man!” He clapped Klaus’s back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still looked squirrly, but he stopped in the road as his eyes found something that Diego couldn’t see. “Can you see him?” he asked carefully. They’d mistaken two people for ghosts so far, so they had to make sure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. What is it?” Diego asked, feeling his heart quicken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s… a guy. He’s got a gun, but he’s got uh, a twisted arm and his leg is on at a very strange angle… ” Klaus trailed off, tilting his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, uh… whaddaya do now?” Diego asked. Normally, he would hold pin someone to the wall or hold a knife to their throat but threats of harm wouldn’t work on a dead guy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just talk to him,” Klaus shrugged, burying his hands deep into his pockets. “Hey!” he said, looking at nothing. “Yeah, you.” A pause. “What’s a meta-human?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego leaned against a building made of bricks, the rough material scraping against his sweater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, they’re like powered people? I’m definitely not one of them, anyway. We’re a different brand of crazy. Where did these meta-humans come from?” Klaus was asking. There was another break where Klaus was prompting whoever he was talking to with little nods. “An explosion? How do you know this?” There was a longer pause, and Klaus’s expression got sad. “I’m sorry. Is the guy dead now?” Another break. “Well, that’s the next best thing, I guess. Where’s this Star Labs?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus tossed him a pen and a paper from one of the deep pockets in his jacket. Klaus repeated an address, which Diego scribbled down on the back of the voucher for a bar, sticking it in his pocket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know anything about this city that we should know?” there was a much longer pause, punctuated by nods and ‘uh-huh’s from Klaus. Diego felt strangely left out. “Alright. Thanks. Is there anything we should do for you? Like a last wish?” His voice sounded strangely kind. “Okay. I’ll do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus turned and started walking back down the alley. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did he say?” asked Diego, hurrying to catch up with Klaus’s long legs, which were carrying him far away from the man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, basically, there’s these superpowered people here because of this huge explosion at this lab called Star Labs and everything has been going to shit since they arrived,” said Klaus. “And there’s this guy called the Flash--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The speedy guy we fought.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. And he’s got this buddy, Green Arrow, but the ghost wasn’t sure if he was a meta-human or not. He’s from Star City, anway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a ridiculous name.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pfft. Yeah. Anyway, there’s bad meta-humans and good meta-humans and they own this city regardless,” explained Klaus as they turned back onto the main street. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about that Supergirl person? Kara,” asked Diego. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, shit. I forgot to ask about her!” Klaus slapped his forehead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego grinned, slinging an arm around Klaus’s shoulder. “Whatever. I know how hard that was, talking to him. You did good, buddy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They had to turn back around into another alley to get to the winding street that led back to the van. It was then when Diego felt a sharp thing thud into his back, sending him sprawling. He cried out, feeling Klaus slip from his grasp. He could hear him yelling, see blue out of the corner of his eyes. Diego grunted, electric pain shooting up from his back to the back of his neck. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Come on!</span>
  </em>
  <span> he told himself, crying out as he pushed himself up. He gasped as he stumbled to his feet, grasping with shaky hands to where the device was implanted into his back. Diego gasped shakily as he pulled it out. Once he’d thrown it to the ground, crushing its sparking arm bits to pieces, he looked wildly around. Klaus was gone. He gasped, hair whipping and arms coming up to a defensive position when the speedster ran in front of him. “Where’s Klaus?” he demanded angrily, pulling a knife from his pocket. He had never been surer that his knife would hit its mark if he demanded it to. Diego’s eyes went to the Flash’s calf first, where he’d nailed him last time. It was bandaged, but there was much less blood then he would have expected. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash’s face blurred, even with the mask. “He’s not going to be hurt,” he said, infuriatingly calm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give my brother back, you bastard,” he spat, readying the knife. He didn’t care how fast this dude was, he was going to nail his goddamn heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash spread his hands in a placating gesture. “We just need to see what you guys can do,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t you hear us? No experimentation. We’ve been in a goddamn science experiment our </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole lives,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and we just escaped. We’re not going back. Not willingly,” he growled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash stepped back, holding his hands up. “Alright. If you want to come, we’re at Star Labs.” he warned. “Once we’re done testing him, we’ll free him. We’d like to have you join us too. Asking you nicely didn’t work last time, so we had to take him, hoping you’d all follow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No. No. Not again, not like Patch. I can’t protect him. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Diego stood still. “Take me instead,” he said desperately. “Like a swap. Let him go. He won’t survive, if you put him in a cage. Let him go, and I’ll come willingly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash cocked his head, like he was listening to something. He muttered, “No, Cisco. I can’t.” He shook his head. “No. We want him. You’d be just an extra.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego saw red. He threw, but blinked as he saw the knife thud into the wall. The man was gone, red blur zipping off into the city. Diego’s breath came in short pants as he knelt in the rain. He didn’t know what to do, it was like his brain had stopped making decisions. He needed… he needed a plan. But he couldn’t make one by himself, he needed his family. He stumbled back to the van.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He threw open the door to look on Ben and Vanya snuggled together. Vanya’s eyes flew open. They were, blessedly, brown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His heart panged inside his chest. Now that he was here, he had no idea what to do. He stuttered. “Uh, hey guys.” Ben blinked, immediately looking at the empty space behind Diego. “Where’s Klaus?” he asked urgently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The speedster took him,” Diego growled. “Is Five back?” He needed to do something. To make a plan to do something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben shook his head. “No. No, he’s still gone,” he said, looking scared stupid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He remembered Ben as being very smart, and, bonus, not as much of a prick as Five, so he was probably the next best thing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “D-Diego,” Vanya said, shifting. “I’m so, so sorry, I was so angry--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” interrupted Diego. “We can talk about it later.” His eyes flicked to Ben, and then back to her. Maybe she could help. She did agree with him about deactivating Grace when they took that vote. She was smart, if sometimes scary. “We were in an alley, and he was just gone,” he said gruffly, looking at Ben. “He’s at this place called Star Labs. I need a plan to get him back,” he said. They stared at him blankly. It suddenly occurred to Diego that both of them were not used to being included in things, and certainly not by Diego. “I’d like your help,” he clarified, and their eyes lighted with realization. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want us to help?” she gestured at herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, aren’t you number two, and all?” Ben pointed out. “The planmaker? The leader sometimes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego shook his head. “Not anymore. Last time I made a plan, or participated in making one, it went to shit,” he said plainly. It hurt to admit that, but it was true, and it was time he stopped being such a loner. His family was pretty badass, after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” said Ben. “Cool.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They disentangled themselves and sat on the same seat, not snuggling, but still holding hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego scratched the back of his head. “Any ideas?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben tapped his chin. God, it was so weird to see him there. He looked eerily similar to the way Diego remembered him. Even moved the same. How did that work, him growing as a ghost? “Any other information?” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego thought. “Uh, he said he won’t be hurt. And that they just want to see where our powers come from, or something. But it sounded like experimentation, and locking him up, and I just--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben nodded. “He’s gonna have a breakdown.” He had that look on his face that he always got when he was hatching a plan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego suddenly remembered him and Five hatching the first plan to get donuts together, Five suggesting different ideas rapid-fire and Ben dismissing the illogical ones and puzzling out the most reasonable route. Suddenly, he remembered the middle of that ‘mission’, when Vanya had run into them in the hall, holding her books. Diego remembered her glancing at Reginald’s office, looking at them sadly, smiling, and putting a finger to her lips. A pang rang through Diego as he realized that Ben had been the one to pull her by the hand into the sneaking group. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled at Vanya, and saw her glow the happy kind, not the world-ending kind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe this team thing could work out better than expected. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego nodded. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m coming, Klaus, I’m coming, just hold on…</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>double ugh.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Skittles for Ben</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luther was panicking. Allison was gone. Allison had been flown away to who-knows where in a split second by a girl with multiple superpowers. He squatted down on the ground, rubbing his head. What to do next? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Take it one step at a time,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he told himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What would someone smarter do? Five? No, Five would get angry. Five would torture and bargain and murder to get to Allison, and Luther didn’t want to be that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What would… what would Klaus do? Klaus had proven that he was smarter than Luther when they were underground and at the bowling alley. Klaus would... ask for help, and maybe get drunk, and think about it, and maybe panic. But Luther couldn’t lose control now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What would Ben do? Yes, that was it. Ben would take care of the family first. Right. Luther stood up, and grabbed the bag full of weapons. He marched to the car, but Allison had had the keys. Dammit. He looked wildly around, before spotting them on the pavement where she’d fallen. They must have fallen out of her pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther clambered into the car once he’d fetched them, throwing the guns and things into the back seat. He tried to remember what had been on the list, but his hands were shaky and his brain foggy as he drove back to the city. Luther remembered food, definitely, so he stopped by a grocery store before remembering he didn’t have any money. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He panicked again, before calming himself by trying to be Ben. Reasonable, calm. He looked through the glove compartment and found fifty bucks hidden in the driver’s manual. Luther shoved his huge frame outside the car and walked into the store. He tried to remember how to buy stuff, like he’d seen in movies and things. He got a cart, trying to handle it delicately, and put in the cheapest stuff he could find. Bread, peanut butter, ham, cheddar cheese, four gallons of water, some cups and plates, marshmallows. Luther shoved it all in there until he guessed he’d reached about forty dollars (how much were taxes? He had no idea). He halfheartedly got some Skittles too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After awkwardly paying for his stuff with the lady at the checkout, who he was sure thought he was a homeless person who had just stolen fifty bucks, which were both kind of true, he shoved the bags of things into the car and sped back a little ways closer to the minivan. Luther was sure there were other things he was supposed to get, but weapons and food was a pretty substantial increase to their possessions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clothes! He was supposed to get clothes and blankets. Well, he didn’t have much cash anymore, he supposed. Just… he counted the dollars he’d found in the back seat and in the cushions. Ten bucks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who needed clothes the most? Five, maybe. He was small, and fragile, and Five didn’t realize that, so he’d probably get hurt the most and would need warmth. Maybe Klaus, those pants of his had slits in them. Luther stopped quickly and bought a blanket after making a decision. Blankets were universal, and could be used for everyone who was cold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still addled and ashamed of letting Allison slip away, he drove the rest of the way back to his family in sort of a silent scream, hands shaking as he tried not to crush the steering wheel. He pulled up to the alley and, in a sudden burst of need, ran to the van in the pouring rain. He threw open the door to see just Diego, Ben, and Vanya, sitting on the floor. Diego almost threw a knife at him before breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Luther’s face. Ben looked up from where he was lying stomach down on the floor. “Luther? Where’s Allison?” he asked, concerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther swallowed. “Supergirl. Took her.” The words were hard to get out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” cried Vanya. “How?”Luther flinched away from her voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Swooped in. She had earplugs in, and she knocked her out, and I tried to fight--” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben raised a soothing hand. “It’s all right. We’ll get her back, we just need time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego, however, threw his hands up. “Great! Klaus is getting held for experimentation, Five still hasn’t shown up, and now our only source of resources is gone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther, getting more concerned with the state of their affairs by the minute, but still a little numb, gestured with his thumb to the car they stole. “That’s not… uh, we got some stuff.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank god!” said Ben. “Please tell me you got food, I’m starving and it’s amazing.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giving Ben an odd look, Diego scrambled to his feet. “Alright, Spaceboy, show me what you got.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego was impressed by the things Luther had managed to get. He admired the knives with great tenacity. They hauled the stuff back to the minivan, which was quickly becoming their home base. Ben sorted the food, and without missing a beat, began snacking on the Skittles. Luther was glad he’d gotten them, just from the glow on his face when he tasted them. Vanya helped Diego sort the weapons after some prompting. She seemed to be ignoring Luther for now, which was probably for the best. Luther wanted to apologize, but he needed to be alone with her for him to do it right. She did talk to him for a minute when she found the headphones, which she seemed delighted by, blushing and stuttering when Luther told her what they were for. They seemed to give her some kind of hope. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And--and Allison specifically got them for me?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Said she thought you’d use them to help control your power.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya smiled a small smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego flipped the knives up and down, inserting them (with some modifications) into his ridiculous suit. “Alright,” he said as soon as they were done sorting through the stuff. His words sort of had a ‘rallying speech’ type of vibe to them. “Most of our heavy hitters are still here,” he said, gesturing towards Ben and Vanya. “But all of our powers are kind of…” he struggled for a word. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Flashy,” suggested Ben. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Flashy,” agreed Diego, pointing at him. “We can’t stage anything delicate with the stuff we’ve got right now. None of us are quiet, and none of us are delicate planners of heists.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben made a little noise of objection, but Diego shot him a look. “You were dead, man. You haven’t done anything for like, twenty years.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben shrugged. “True.” He slowly shoved a whole handful of Skittles into his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about Five?” asked Luther suddenly. “Haven’t you heard from him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego shook his head. “No. I would guess that by now Five’s been taken by the dude he fought last time. The dude tailing us. He’s uh, called…” he trailed off, thinking hard. “Oh! Green Arrow, yeah.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is… it because his arrows are green?” asked Ben, grinning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya snickered. Diego rolled his eyes. “Alright. Bow has Five, Supergirl has Allison, and The Flash has Klaus.” He looked around the group. “Who has an idea?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben ate another Skittle before replying, “Well, we should rescue Klaus first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther started. “What? You’re just saying that because you’ve hung around with him for so many years.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben looked at him, clearly taking no shit. Luther shrank back. “No, I’m saying that because he’s the closest. And his powers, though loud, could help with info.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther nodded. “Right, right…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His newly alive brother nodded, satisfied, and popped another candy into his mouth. “And then Allison,” he added through chewing, winking at Luther. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther rolled his eyes, then frowned. “Wait. That leaves Five, the smallest, alone for the longest, with the guy we know the least about.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego flipped a knife in the air. “He’s always got his own stuff going on. He’ll be fine.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i have zero emotional commitment to this story</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Ghosts, Needles and Style</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Klaus didn’t like this tiny room at all, but it wasn’t too bad. It would have been easier with Ben, but he was alive and who-knows where. Outside of the room there was a guy. He was burnt all over one side of his face, and he looked like he was waiting. Klaus knew once he started talking to a corporeal ghost like that, they wouldn’t give up or go away until he’d solved their problems. This one seemed particularly sad. Klaus sighed and scootched his butt up against the wall so he was laying upside down with his long legs upward on the blue wall. He didn’t know why this “Flash” had put him inside this room, evidently he thought it would dampen his powers somehow. But alas, there was another damn ghost outside the room. At least it wasn’t dark. Dark brought memories, and ghosts, and memories of ghosts. He heard a beep, and he considered getting to his feet, but then it occurred to him he just didn’t care. He could probably convince the ghost outside to let him out eventually. The door did its cool slidy open thing and Klaus heard footsteps. “Klaus Hargreeves,” said a voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s ahp!” Klaus replied, fake cheerful. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He heard a different voice choke out, ‘Cisco…’. Klaus clambered to a criss-cross-applesauce position and looked at the two figures in his vision. A man in a Star Wars shirt was standing in the middle of the room, arms folded. The burned man was getting agitated, staring at him. Cisco, huh? Neato. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus looked at the ghost. Fine. Maybe he’d talk to him. Put on a show.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me. Listen, The Flash is healing from that knife your br-” started Cisco.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, not you!” Klaus exclaimed, waving his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco scoffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ghost looked confused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you, with the burns. What’s your name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ghost swallowed. “You can see me?” he asked in amazement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus sighed. Why did they always do this? “Obviously. What’s your name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco stared at him, and then took a device out of his pocket, its antennae pointed towards Klaus. “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span> see ghosts…” he breathed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m Ronnie. Ronnie Raymond,” the ghost stuttered out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus tried his best placating smile. “Good, good. Hi, Ronnie. Could you tell me this man’s last name, please?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. S-Should I do that?” he said, looking between Cisco and Klaus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you talking to?” Cisco demanded. “Who is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shrugged. “Just your friendly neighborhood ghost, I guess. Though, he knows your name is Cisco.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco gaped. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ghost cleared his throat. “It’s, uh, Cisco Ramone. Listen, there’s a girl here, her name’s Caitlyn, could you tell her I love her? More than anything?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus nodded, sympathizing. Sticking around for lost love was always his favorite reason for a ghost to stay. Revenge and spite were his least favorites. “I’ll tell her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ghost nodded. “Thank you.” And Klaus blinked, and he was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus grinned at Cisco. “Cisco Ramone, huh?” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco’s mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish. Klaus could see his surprise, his shock, as he pointed shakily at Klaus. He got close to the glass, staring down at him. He crouched. “You can conjure anyone?” he asked breathlessly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m the fucking seance, man!” Klaus laughed. “But only maybe,” he added, more serious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco’s face fell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s iffy. It kind of depends on if the person stuck around or not, and people are kinda wishy-washy in the afterlife.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blinked. “But you can try? Huh. We’re just gonna do a few tests, and then we’re gonna see if we should let you go or not. Probably not, if I’m being honest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus sighed, letting his head roll back. “Sure. But could you let me out of this cage? I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said. He squinted behind Cisco. “And I couldn’t, anyway, you’re clean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cocked his head. “Clean?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got no spirits following you,” Klaus clarified, waving his hands spookily. “Anyway, we’re all friends here, could you please let me out? I’m going a little crazy, and I’m not gonna run. I just want… some air.” That wasn’t strictly true. If he saw an opening to get a message to his family, he’d take it. Who knew what trouble they were getting up to without him? Maybe now they’d listen to him about some things, like when to lock their sisters up in soundproof cells (never) and things about ghosts punching him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco nodded, unsure, as he said, “Uh huh. I’ll ask the Flash.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus fidgeted while the door shut and Cisco presumably talked to the Flash. When he came back, he started punching in numbers into the controls. “You’re letting me out?” asked Klaus. Honestly, he’d not expected that to work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Just know that, if you try to run, the Flash is probably faster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus nodded, watching the door open. Klaus stood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco nodded. “Alright. We’ve got a med bay, sort of, so that’s where we’ll be doing the tests.”  They walked in silence, though he could sense Cisco sort of sizing him up. His form of dress was, admittedly, not what the people of Central City seemed to wear. Cisco pointed at Klaus’s hands. “What’s with the tats?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus smirked, doing jazz hands. “Human Ouijja board,” he explained. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They turned a rounded corner into a lab, clean and white, with lots of shining screens and beeping monitors. A girl was mixing up some things in vials, and a young man was leaning against the wall, watching him. Klaus studied him. He had blonde hair, a handsome face and a slender frame like Klaus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus narrowed his eyes, and leaned over to Cisco. “What’s his name?” he hissed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that’s Barry,” Cisco said, slightly guarded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Barry what?” asked Klaus, trying to act casual. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Barry Allen?” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus nodded. “Barry Allen is The Flash. Noted.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The people in the lab turned, stunned. The girl still had her vials in her hands, and Barry had pushed himself off the wall. “What?” he said. “How did--how did you figure it out?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus scoffed. “You look, like, super similar. And it wasn’t gonna be her,” he pointed. “Or him,” he pointed to Cisco. “He’s too short. And also, it was a little bit of a guess, but you just confirmed it, kid.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They exchanged glances. “Damn. Okay,” said Cisco, his eyebrows raised to the heavens. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shrugged. “You said you wanted to do tests?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They nodded. The girl beckoned him over to a chair that looked like a dentist’s chair. Klaus hopped in, crossing his long legs over each other. She raised an eyebrow at his pants and jacket. “Are you afraid of needles?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head and grinned. “Honey, you have no idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her lips tightened. Huh. Guess they didn’t do drugs in this city. Klaus leaned his head back while she messed with some needles and vials. Cisco was over in the corner, fiddling with the device he’d pulled out. A thought occurred to Klaus. He rolled his head over to peer at the girl. “Hey, uh, are you Caitlyn?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked up from her hands, which were holding a vial. “Yes. Why?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, uh, Ronnie says hi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Movement in the lab stopped. Barry slowly turned from the computer to Klaus. Cisco snapped his fingers. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>That’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>who you were talking to?” he said incredulously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus kept his eyes on Caitlyn, who had begun to shake subtly. “Caitlyn, he says he loves you more than anything in the world,” Klaus promised softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is he…” she licked her lips and shifted, her whole body tight. “Is he here?” she squeaked softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shook his head. “No, no, he left… I’m sorry.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caitlyn abruptly turned, putting the back of her hand to her eyes. Barry zipped over and tried to put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched away. “I’m fine, I-I’m fine!” she spluttered, but the way she sprinted out of the room (in heels no less) told Klaus otherwise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco was close behind, pointing at Barry as he jogged out of the room. “You, uh, you give him the tests, I’m gonna--I’m gonna do something, oh crap--” and he was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry gave him the nerdiest glare he’d ever been given in his life, and Klaus had met Five. He snatched the syringe from the counter and grabbed Klaus’s arm, roughly pushing up his sleeve. “Your bedside manner needs work,” remarked Klaus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry glared again. “You could have done that better,” he snapped back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? I just told her what he told me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Giving her hope to talk to him again. And then immediately squashing it by telling her his ghost was gone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus winced as Barry stabbed the needle into his arm. “Whatever, kid. I could probably summon him again, unless what you just gave me is particularly strong.” He heard Ben’s voice in his head, almost thought he could see him out of the corner of his eye. This next sentence had to be said, but it was hard. He sighed as Barry set up something on a monitor. “Oh, Barry, don’t... give me too many painkillers. I have a history,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He raised a brow. “Addict?” he said. Klaus could hear a little disgust in his tone. Whatever. These Central City people were so perfect. In Klaus’s universe, people could be imperfect. That was normal, not accepted, but normal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shrugged. “Sure. If you were surrounded by people with their hands chopped off and their throats slit, you’d want to drive the pesky things away too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry seemed to pause, his hands on the keyboard, back to Klaus. “You can summon anyone?” he asked carefully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If they want. And if I want. And if I’m sober,” he said in quick succession. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry tapped at the counter. “You’re sure?” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope,” replied Klaus. “I’ve sort of been slacking off on the whole powers thing for like, the last thirty-one years.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry sighed. “Okay. Fine. Uh, Caitlyn wrote some complicated stuff about getting some of your blood with that serum I just gave you to test if you’re conventionally human, but I don’t know how to do that,” he said, frustrated. He scrolled through the document he was looking at. “Alright. I can ask you some questions, I guess.” Barry zipped out of the room, wind rustling through Klaus’s hair, coming back with a clipboard in hand within a split second. Another split second and there was a polygraph around Klaus’s arm, and Barry was sitting in a stool that wasn’t there before. Klaus’s heart was racing as Barry clicked a pen. “Right. Tell me something obviously true,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhh, I’m in a lab right now,” answered Klaus. Barry glanced at the polygraph, and then wrote something down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. Something obviously not true.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m straight,” grinned Klaus. He thought he saw Barry hide a smile as he wrote something else down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry looked up. “Right. What is your full name?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Number Four Hargreeves,” answered Klaus. “Though I prefer Klaus Hargreeves.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry’s brow furrowed at that, though he did write it down. “Why are you named Number Four? Scratch that, why is all of your family named in numbers?” he asked curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus started to answer, before he saw Five yelling at him in his mind’s eye. “Uh… I’d prefer not to talk about it,” he said carefully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry looked at him. “Please?” he asked. “I’d really not like to threaten you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath, Klaus fidgeted in his seat. “Fine. Okay. Uh, my father was a horrible, mean old bastard,” Klaus said carefully. “And when he adopted all seven of us, we were named in order. One, two, three, and so on.” There. That glossed over the circumstances of their adoption. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry was writing furiously, his hand blurring. “Right. What are all of the powers of your siblings?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus cocked his head. Another dangerous question. Whatever, he’d seen them all fight. Klaus thought hard. “Uhh, Number One has super strength. Number Three has persuasion, also some reality warping if she tries hard enough.” Barry’s eyebrows rose. “Number Two can throw stuff, Dad called it ‘trajectory and velocity manipulation’, but we just call it throwing stuff. Five can teleport,” he said, leaving out the time travel and apparently dimension travel. “I can see dead people. Be-Number Six has monsters in him.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about Number Seven?” Barry asked, leaning forward on his stool. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged. “She blows stuff up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry leaned back on his stool. “How?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shrugged. “Hell if I know.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The polygraph beeped. Klaus shrugged again, rolling his eyes. “She glows white when she does it. Don’t ask me why.” That was technically the truth, so it didn’t beep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry looked at the computer, then at his clipboard. “Cisco left some notes here… oh, he was gonna ask why the kid, Five, is hanging around with a group of adults. Also, he wanted to know why he was such a… twerp. I’m gonna say twerp.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus shrugged, trying to think of a clever truth. “He’s just a twerp. And he’s our brother. He got here a little late, that’s why he’s so young.” All true. He was a twerp, and he did arrive late. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry cocked his head and scribbled that down. “Alright. Cisco was also asking about Vanya’s outfit? Got anything to say on that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s very stylish,” said Klaus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry’s eyes reached for the heavens, but he wrote something down anyway. “How did you get here?” he asked, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. He looked expectant. Finally. The big question. The games were over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus looked Barry in the eyes, and smiled. “I have no fucking clue,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The polygraph did not beep. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>fuckin makes me sick, this writing. but I need to get it out. if you want better writing head over to my other tua crossover, we need an umbrella. it's marvel. it's also trash, but it's trash of an higher quality.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Be Nice or Be Dead</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>Five was tied to a pole, in a dark grey warehouse, with duct tape over his mouth, and with blood trickling down his brow. There was an obscene amount of locks on his hands, feet, and neck, ensuring that even if he did get out, he’d never escape notice on the street. Plus the fact he was pretty sure there was a tracker in his arm now. He only tried to escape for about a half an hour, before realizing that the trap was too good and he’d never get out without teleporting. And that was dangerous in a place he didn’t know. Plus, he hadn’t been fed in about fifteen hours and wasn’t even sure he could manage even one jump. Five let his head hang forward, trying to rest against the uncomfortable position of the pole. He’d managed a fitful sleep for about three minutes before a person walked into his peripheral. Five considered looking up, but he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. Different plays ran through his head. He decided to try to be nice, play on his age and his obvious lostness to try and win some favor. Maybe show off his intelligence a little. And then he’d stab the hooded fool who’d done this right through his neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A man slapped him lightly, obviously thinking he was still asleep. Five looked at him blankly, aching to spit profanities at him through the duct tape. He couldn’t waste the energy, however, and that didn’t fit with the being nice thing. The man was the same one that had jumped him from behind while Five had been looking for him, knocking him unconscious before he’d even had a chance to say hello. Obviously he’d learned. He peeled the duct tape off, and was waiting for Five to say something. Five didn’t, and instead let his gaze wander to his boots and then back up again, admiring the bow across his captor’s back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man raised an eyebrow. “What, not gonna say anything?” he said, abruptly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five looked at him. Sure, why not? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d play his captor’s game. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want me to say?” he said, going for broken but sort of ending up with dry exhaustion, which was closer to the truth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Start with your full name,” his captor said, crossing his arms. . </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why should I tell you?” he asked calmly, trying not to think about spitting on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned forward. “Because if you don’t, I’ll put an arrow through your foot. You’ve got to have names other than numbers. The Flash told me that Number Four is actually named Klaus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five licked his lips. Klaus and his loose tongue. “Fine. They all have names, yes, but I kept mine. I’m Five.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another stinging slap, addling his already concussed brain. “Don’t lie to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s true! I’m Five Finch, but you can call me Five. And you?” Five said, forcibly pleasant, just to screw with him. He lied through his teeth about his last name, just to see if he could. It seemed to work. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Green Arrow,” he said gruffly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five had to laugh. “Green Arrow?” he said slowly. “Really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve never heard of me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve never heard of any of you,” said Five, clenching his jaw. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Green Arrow shifted again. “Who are you?” he tried again, gruffly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged. “A kid. Who wants to go home,” he said, going for sad but ending up with frustrated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Green Arrow got closer. “I don’t give a damn about you specifically. Who is your family?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Refugees,” answered Five. “From an apocalypse.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Caused by what?” he asked immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five thought for a minute. “Asteroid impact,” he shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What year is it where you come from?” he asked, his voice like stone on stone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally an intelligent question. Though, perhaps he’d up the stakes a little. Get more than names. “You ask a question, I ask a question,” he demanded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not how this works, kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is now. Come on, you wouldn’t hurt a kid,” he said, widening his eyes a little. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Green Arrow cocked his head. “I wouldn’t like to. But someone’s clearly trained you to kill, and I’m supposed to get information out of people trained to kill,” he said seriously, leaning closer. In different circumstances, Five would have liked this man’s attitude. Simple, clear, and dangerous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, who gave you this job?” he asked tauntingly. “You’re a vigilante, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His silence told Five he was correct. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah. One of my brothers would really like you. What was it that made you turn to this life? Death of a parent? Sibling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My father,” came the gruff reply. “My turn.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, at least Green Arrow was playing Five’s game now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What year is it where you come from?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“2019. Where am I?” Five fired back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Star City,” he replied. “What do you want from our world?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Asylum. But mostly just normal lives,” Five said, looking him in the eyes. “How far am I from Central City?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“600 miles. About. How did you get here?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I assume I was dragged into a car or maybe a different moving vehicle to get to Star City, though you know the answer to that better than I do.” Green Arrow smirked at his evasive maneuvers, though he didn’t say anything. “What’s the name on your birth certificate?” Five asked, smiling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Green Arrow paused. “Oliver,” he said grudgingly. “What’s with the uniform?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Oliver, it was the only thing in my size,” Five smiled condescendingly. Oliver scoffed disbelievingly at his constant dodging. Five supposed it must have looked odd, his clever responses in such a dangerous position. . </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So much hostility in such a tiny package,” he muttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My turn,” said Five, different options running through his head. He licked his parched lips. “Can I have some water?” he eventually asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver paused, and then touched his ear. “He’s our prisoner! And an interdimensional fugitive!” Oliver protested. He glared at the security camera in the corner of the room Five was facing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m also very dehydrated. And hungry,” interjected Five to the camera. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver shook his head. “Fine, get some water and some food.” There was a pause. “What kind of food? Hell if I know. What did you normal kids eat?” Another pause. “Fine.” He turned back to Five. He sighed as he looked him up and down. Slowly, he stepped closer until Five had to strain to look up at him. God, this boyish body was limiting. Oliver walked behind him, and Five itched to look. A gloved finger grazed the inside of his right wrist, tickling him slightly. Five didn’t flinch. “Who tattoos a kid?” he asked softly, anger bubbling over his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We all got them as kids, if that’s what you’re asking. Except Vanya. Lucky her, I guess. In that one aspect.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But why?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not your turn. But I’m feeling generous. They were a way of marking us to our father, I guess. Making sure we’d never forget. We got them when we were… thirteen, maybe fourteen? I don’t know, it’s been so long,” he chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver slowly walked back to the front. “How old are you?” he asked.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five smiled slowly and slyly, like a devious fox who’d just gotten dinner. “A clever question.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver waited. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five laughed, banging his head against the pole. This day was insane. It was absolutely batshit crazy and he was twice concussed and dehydrated. Once his giddy giggles had subsided, he stuck out his tongue. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Whatever, it’s my turn. Where’s the rest of my family?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re being hunted by our partners,” he said grudgingly, wary of Five’s mental state now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Specifics?” asked Five, suddenly serious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver shrugged. “Guess you deserve to know. Klaus, or Number Four, is being held with the Flash in Central City, I just heard that your sister was captured by Supergirl--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which one?” interrupted Five. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Please not Vanya, please not Vanya…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Three. Oh, Supergirl told us her name is Allison. The one with persuasion. She’s in National City right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank god. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are they okay?” he asked, fully expecting them not to answer until he’d answered another question. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver hesitated, and then nodded. “We won’t hurt them unless they try to escape or fight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, like you won’t hurt me,” Five said dryly, with a touch of bitterness. He could still taste blood in his mouth from the slaps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The restraints are the only way to keep you here,” Oliver tried to explain. “And the last time we tried to talk to you you hit me in the gut with a metal pipe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five glared at him angrily. “You tried to hurt me and my siblings. It was self defense, dumbass.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a criminal anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could have just asked nicely. Asked me, alone, if you wanted me to come back to your base to answer some questions. But no, you bastards had to tie me to a pole and starve me until I complied,” Five retorted, shifting around the cold metal pole. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a quiet pause. Oliver leaned forward until his stone-blue eyes were level with Five’s, who tried to subtly lean away, but his head clanged against the pole. Five sensed he’d crossed some sort of line, or maybe passed a test. Something had changed, anyway. “How old are you?” Oliver asked again, quieter this time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five stayed silent, tightening his lips as he looked up at his captor. Oliver asked again. “How old are you?” There was a note of warning in his voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five didn’t answer. Oliver suddenly slapped him hard across the cheek, making a </span>
  <em>
    <span>crack!</span>
  </em>
  <span>, enough to sting. Five looked up at him angrily, letting tears come to his eyes, even after he felt blood and saliva dripping down his chin. He let a little fear bleed into his expression. And he was afraid. It hurt to admit that, but beyond the sheer weight of his experience, he could see no way out of this without endangering his family or getting hurt a lot, possibly dying. The giddiness was gone, replaced with the harsh sting of reality. He turned his head back to his captors. There was a moment of silence as they both sized each other up. Five wondered how far Oliver would go to get what he wanted. He didn’t know Five’s true age, and Five could whimper and scream and make him feel guilty for hurting a kid until he stopped, while in reality he was far from breaking. It would be painful, torturous, but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>would</span>
  </em>
  <span> protect his family. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A woman suddenly entered the warehouse, drawing the attention of both inhabitants. “Mom?” Five stuttered, before realizing it wasn’t Grace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked nervously between Oliver and Five. “What? I-I’m not your mom. I don’t know how I would be your mom, as you just came out of a wormhole in Central City,” she said, talking a mile a minute. Definitely not his mom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She let her eyes slip away from Five, and looked guiltily at the floor. Oliver turned to face her, arms crossed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five put on a scared face and mouthed the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> until he saw her flinch. Her eyes slipped away from his bloodied face, and addressed Green Arrow. “Ollie,” she said, “A-Are you sure we should be--” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.” He snatched the kid’s juice box and a bagel. She nodded, straightening her purple grey skirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” Oliver said shortly after she left. “You’d better not bite me,” he continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five rolled his eyes. “Why would I bite you?” he asked, letting his little broken act go for just a second. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re a prick,” he snapped, stabbing the little plastic straw through the juice box. He stalked over to Five’s pole and held it up to his face, grabbing him by the hair and pulling his nodding head up. “Drink,” he ordered. “Or Felicity is going to yell at me again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five drank, watching Green Arrow. It felt really good to have some hydration. He slurped it all up greedily, trying not to seem too desperate. Oliver then ripped up the bagel and stuffed tiny pieces into Five’s mouth none too gently, grimacing. Five ate those too, trying to be obedient. It would be funny if he bit him now. A human mouth could chop through fingers like carrots if he tried hard enough. But no, he couldn’t. Being nice was kind of through, but he could still be obedient. Maybe they’d come to an agreement eventually, one that allowed him to escape. Oliver left, leaving Five slumped against the pole. He had to get back to his family eventually. Luther and Diego would probably be concocting some ridiculous escape plan to free Klaus and Allison, and then they would come for him. And get themselves hurt in the process. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And who knew what could happen to Vanya in that time? Ben was probably being a good influence on her, but causing an apocalypse was not something that someone could get over quickly. Klaus was probably freaking out in wherever they were holding him, thought Five. And Allison would be panicked too. Five didn’t want them to be separated again. Things went wrong when that happened. The best he could probably do was be quiet and not answer prying questions, while still trying to be amiable. The first bit was probably going to be easy, but the second part was difficult. Whatever, they probably couldn’t use much that he’d said, except maybe the umbrella tattoos. Giving them information on his siblings would only help them get captured. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five would have to be very clever to get out of this one.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>okay, I actually do like writing five. he's fun.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Pep Talks Aside...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Vanya had never thought she’d be where she was now, in every aspect. Having just caused an apocalypse. Holding hands with Ben, who had been (she was pretty sure) dead. In an alternate universe, about to rescue her other brother from experimentation. She couldn’t help but feel like all of this was her fault, despite the heartfelt pep talk from Ben. Her family was in a strange, unfamiliar universe where dangerous people were after them, where her family was either frightened of her or hated her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some little things were looking up for her, though. Those headphones that Luther had given her, from Allison. They were a symbol of hope for her. That one day, she could live in peace. She could be back to normal, or something like it, like she was before, with a few key changes. And maybe, one day, she would be in a place when she wouldn’t need headphones. She’d have control over herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, those headphones inspired a silly little image in her head. Her family, in a farmhouse somewhere at night, brilliant stars stretching across the dark sky. She imagined playing for them, having their own private concert. She knew that was silly, as Diego and Klaus and Allison would never leave the city. But maybe that moment, that starry concert, was a vacation. A universe where they got together for more than missions and funerals, where they loved each other enough to miss each other. Vanya imagined living in that farmhouse with Luther, Ben, and Five, the lost ones, who didn’t know where to go. If she thought too hard about that, it would break under the weight of the facts. Five and Luther would get restless, needing a mission or a goal besides counting birds or watching the sunset. Ben would want to be back with Klaus. Ben was sitting right next to Vanya in the van, and she could sense him missing Klaus already even as they made their plan to get him back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya snuck another Skittle from him, trying to pay attention to the plan Diego was outlining. Diego and Luther were at odds with almost every aspect of the plan, Diego wanting to burst in and demand Klaus back, while Luther wanted to ask until they were sure they wouldn’t just give him back. Ben acted sort of as a mediator, pointing out flaws in their half-formed plans and snatching the good ideas from his brothers. Vanya marveled at how well he’d integrated himself back into the group. He was even better at getting Diego and Luther to work together than Allison was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The current plan, surprisingly, involved Vanya in a very key role. Diego had ducked out for a minute when Vanya brought up that she was more powerful with a violin, and returned with a violin and a hundred bucks. When pressed, Diego didn’t answer to where he’d gotten the items. Vanya didn’t really want to know, anyway. Sometimes she felt like some members of her family had broken moral compasses, but she was very appreciative of the violin, so she didn’t question. It was a little lighter than her normal, and Vanya was sceptical about the quality of the strings, but she didn’t dare try it out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were almost done with the plan, just trying to get the dialogue right. It was painfully obvious Diego was trying his hardest to include her throughout the whole thing. Luther, who’d been incredibly wary of Vanya when he’d showed up half an hour ago, had slowly picked up on Diego’s tactic. His awkward gestures, like asking Vanya what she thought about the plan every minute and a half, were surprisingly heartwarming. Being included, even too much, was honestly amazing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She leaned forward to tap the paper Ben was scribbling ideas on. “You know I’m kind of inexperienced in controlling, you know, my power?” The words still felt strange. “Can’t we have Ben do this part? ” she asked quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego shrugged. “If you like. Though, I think your power works better, like, as a threat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like, Ben can threaten to unleash the monster,” Luther interjected. “But there’s not a lot of warning. With you, you can sort of menacingly go like this,” he said, gesturing almost putting the bow on the violin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya nodded in understanding. “Alright. Okay.” There was a lot more posturing involved in this type of mission than she thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben nudged her shoulder with his. “Your first mission! You excited?” he said, winking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That made Vanya smile a bit. It was her first mission. Hopefully, she wouldn’t ruin it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther nodded. “Everyone know their parts?” he asked, big eyebrows looking concerned as he glanced around the van. They nodded back, Vanya more unsure than Ben, who was more unsure than Diego, whose confidence could have sold a banana peel for a million bucks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. I’m driving,” said Luther, making to get out of the car. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah ah ah, no way. I’m driving,” said Diego. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m still the leader,” replied Luther.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Says who? No more numbers. We’re a team now. Team… Team Zero,” Diego demanded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther scoffed. “No more numbers? One of our team members is literally named Five.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya suddenly clambered out of her seat and pushed open the door. Enough was enough, and this was getting ridiculous. She slid into the driver’s seat to shocked stares. She leaned her head back to address them. “No more numbers, right? Anyway, Luther hasn’t really driven in four years and I’m pretty sure you failed your driver’s test, Diego.” Her confidence seemed unearned, but she wanted to see if it would work. Would they yell at her?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego looked offended, but still gave her the raised eyebrow of: </span>
  <em>
    <span>true.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Luther sat back in a huff, muttering, “I drove back here.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya shrugged, and turned the keys in the ignition. She was immensely relieved that they hadn’t yelled at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At advice from Diego, they’d Sharpied over one of the letters on the license plate, turning a zero into an eight, and as long as nobody looked too closely on the traffic cams or on the streets, they’d be able to get to Star Labs in time. Allison still had the phone, wherever she was, so they didn’t have Google Maps. They instead dredged up some paper maps from inside the car that Allison and Luther had stolen together, and used them to navigate the city. Ben sat in the oddest positions in the passenger seat, forgetting his seatbelt until Vanya reminded him of it. She wasn’t even sure he remembered he was alive half the time. They eventually stopped a block away from the Labs, sending Ben (the most normal looking of them all) ahead to scout it out. He came back about fifteen minutes later. “There’s two entrances we can get to within the time it’ll take Vanya to put on a show,” he reported. “One’s a back hatch and another is a big grand entrance. Diego, Luther, and I should go for the back hatch while Vanya does her thing at the front entrance.” They nodded. They had been hoping for two back entrances, one for Diego and one for Luther and Ben, but this was good also. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya took a deep breath as she stepped out of the car. Showtime. She reviewed her lines in her head one by one. She listened to the rain for a while, trying to calm herself. Normally she’d play the Phantom of the Opera overture in her head to help calm down, but she didn’t want to get music in her head. Diego picked out a couple guns for Luther while he ripped out a section of iron pipe from the side of a cooking store. Water gushed out from where he had pulled it out, adding to the constant drizzle of rain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben sat cross-legged in the trunk while Diego restocked his knives, whistling as he went. Ben suddenly laid a hand on his shoulder, causing Diego to look up from his work. “What?” Diego asked, concerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a dumbass,” he answered, deadpan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego grinned, and went back to adding knives to his outfit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d discussed the risks of showing off Vanya’s powers, but they’d eventually decided that if everything went well, the people in the building wouldn’t be able to spread the news. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya was calm, but still nervous, which she guessed was a good emotion for blowing stuff up. The white outfit was kind of dramatic, and she was soaking. Suddenly, she had an idea. Could she, somehow, dry herself off? It was a stretch, and the rain seemed to appear suddenly when she played, but she could try. As a warm up. Vanya walked further down the alley, and raised the bow. She saw Luther flinch. “It’s okay!” she assured him. “I’m just trying a thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still looked unsure. “A small thing,” she added. Jesus, you blow up the moon one time… the half hearted joke in her head made her wince. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She drew the bow across the strings in an E sharp, trying to imagine the rain leaving her soaked clothes, evaporating, lifting off her. She immediately felt a little drier, and opened her eyes to see the rain floating in a bubble around her. As soon as she focused on sight, not sound, however, the rain crashed to the ground. She tried again, in D sharp, drawing it out nice and slow. That was one of her favorite notes. It worked, and she felt the rain leave her white clothes. Could she hold that? Without the violin? Vanya held the note in her head, felt it ring there long after she’d dropped the bow. She peeked open her eyes to see that her brothers had gathered a safe distance away from her. Ben was grinning. “Now that,” he said softly. “Is going to be a good entrance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya smiled, finding the D sharp in his voice, using it to continue the bubble. She kept the bow in one hand and the violin in the other. The force field followed her, but the individual drops left, sliding off the edges and falling as they were supposed to. Vanya saw her hands out of the corner of her eyes. They were glowing ever so slightly. God, it felt so good to use the power inside her. How had she ever lived sedated? She could thank Harold Jenkins for dumping out her pills at least. She walked towards the lab, hearing her brothers chatter behind her, before sneaking off to the back entrance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya spotted a security camera hanging on the east wall, where she was walking. She smiled at it before raising the bow to her chin and making a short, staccato note that imploded the poor thing. There. If that didn’t get their attention, she didn’t know what would. She dropped the bow again. Pedestrians began to take notice, and she made herself glow a little brighter, making the bubble around her a little bigger. They backed off, some running to their cars. She knew they’d call the police. That was the one unknown in their plan. When would the police arrive? Probably fairly fast, given how quick the civilians were to respond to a superpowered entity. Vanya just inside the door, waiting. Sure enough, the Flash zipped out and stopped in front of her, the two of them staring at each other in the grand, open, entryway. He looked exactly how Diego had described him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Number Seven,” he said, trying to sound commanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled at him. “That’s what my father called me. You can call me the White Violin.” Diego had made the name for her, and though it sounded a little silly to her, she could see the effect it had on the Flash. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t expect to see you,” the Flash continued. “We thought Number Two would come. It doesn’t matter. We would like to take you in for some testing, and to be held until we determine your threat level. If you do not come willingly, we will take you by force. ”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My threat level?” she said, musing. That was off script, but she liked it anyway. “My threat level is very high, Flash. I don’t want to hurt you.” She raised the violin to her chin and looked at him innocently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He drew in a breath to say something else, but before he could, she drew a long D sharp with her bow, breathing in the sound. The lights flickered, and the wind rose. When she finished the note, the lights shattered. The only light then was the grey-blue sunlight coming through the window. Vanya knew she was backlit from that, and Diego had told her to go for effect. A little tip from street fighting she’d never thought she’d be told. She made sure some security cameras were still alive and blinking. Vanya wanted whoever Flash had on the inside to be watching the cams and not behind them. Vanya lowered the violin, watching him study her warily. He zipped behind her, forcing her to turn. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now started the lines. “Free Klaus,” she said. “He is my brother, and I would like him back. If you do not comply, I will destroy this place and everything in it, and I will search the rubble for my brother.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head. “I don’t think you can do that. You’re not that powerful, or they would have used you in the fight beforehand.” She could see the Flash’s lightning get brighter in the dark, and Vanya’s instincts made her a protective shield of sound. The Flash sped towards Vanya, punching with his fist, but he bounced off the shield. He made a shocked little sound in his throat, trying again. He couldn’t get through, though he tried from several angles. “I’m trying!” he muttered into what was presumably his earpiece.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Free Klaus,” she repeated. “And do not pursue us. We are in your world because of a mistake, and we will try to leave at the earliest possibility. If that is not possible, we will live quietly, but quietly </span>
  <em>
    <span>free,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she recited. “Contact your partners. Tell them to free Three and Five.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash shook his head. “I can’t do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” Vanya asked, growing angry. They had anticipated him not agreeing, but still. Their conditions were reasonable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no control over Green Arrow or Supergirl. I could possibly free Klaus, but I need him to do something for me first,” The Flash said. “And I need to run some tests on the rest of your family as well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where is Green Arrow?” she asked, cocking her head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His jaw clenched, and his fists tightened. She raised her bow. “Where is the man who took my brother?” she demanded, glowing a little more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Star City,” he stuttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you need my brother for?” Vanya asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need him to conjure someone,” he replied haltingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who?” asked Vanya softly, curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My mother,” he said after a pause.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged angrily. “I don’t see why you need to know that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya smiled. “I don’t. One last chance, Flash, before I wreck everything here. Free my brother.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His fists tightened again, and he stood his ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya sighed, and clenched her stomach. There was a pull of energy where she converted the police sirens, the rain on her bubble, the D sharp in her head, everything, into pure destruction. She let it go, and the Flash flew backward, slamming into the marble counter of the check in. He crumpled. Vanya walked over to where the Flash was laying, unconscious, and debated how to drag him inside. She looked over where the police were gathering. Her brothers and her didn’t have much time, and they didn’t want to hurt innocent civilians. She grabbed The Flash by the leg and pulled him to the side of the huge doors. When she got in behind solid walls, she tore off his mask and took a picture with the phone Diego had stolen for her. Her eventual decision was to drag him with her to wherever Diego and Luther were, in case they had to make a quick escape. She hummed to herself, and he began to float, glowing Star Labs was clean and white, and had entirely too much glass. Where would the center be, where the guy at the other end of the comms was? She didn’t know until she heard yelling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya ran towards where the sounds were coming from. They called to her, those little noises. She could take the voices and twist them into physical forces, could bring them to life. She calmed herself, didn’t take the bait. Those headphones would definitely be useful later. Vanya skidded into the center, where she saw Diego holding a knife to a girl’s head. Luther was in the corner, holding Ben, who was lying on the floor. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dead? </span>
  </em>
  <span>panged Vanya’s heart, making her body stutter to a stop until she saw the rise and fall of his breath. A short boy with long hair was holding some sort of fancy gun to Klaus’s head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Cisco, I thought we were friends,” whispered Klaus, pouting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya’s anger welled up in her again. How dare they? Couldn’t her family have peace for once in their goddamn lives? She snapped the bow in the short man’s direction, sending both him and Klaus flying backward. She immediately stopped glowing. “Sorry!” she cried, but he gave her a feeble thumbs up before knocking the woozy man who had threatened him on the back of his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who--who--” gasped the woman whom Diego was threatening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let her go,” said Vanya exhaustedly. Diego did so, and she leapt out of his arms, grasping her throat. Diego ran a gloved finger over his knife, looking at her with menace in his eyes. Vanya knew Diego enough to know that menace wasn’t real. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman swallowed, and adjusted her sweater vest, thin lips sealed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya smiled at her, and let her glowing stop. “It’s all right. We’re not going to hurt you.” she said soothingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman didn’t seem to believe her, judging by the way she glanced towards Diego’s knife. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is there anyone else in the building?” Diego asked, leaning against the wall. She shook her head, fidgeting slightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the corner of Vanya’s eye, she saw Klaus crawl over to where Ben was lying on the floor. “Is he okay?” he asked Luther urgently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just out cold. He should wake up in a couple minutes,” Luther replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t anyone wanna hear what happened to me?” Klaus whined. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego shot him a look. “Not now, Klaus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did that happen?” Vanya added on, placing her violin on the counter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus nodded his head to the unconscious man with the futuristic gun. “Diego was threatening Caitlyn and Cisco came up from behind and hit him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Caitlyn.” Vanya turned to the woman. “Hi.” She thought about telling her that her name was Vanya, but at the last second remembered how Five didn’t want their real names getting out, for some reason. She stuck her hand out to shake. “I’m Number Seven.” It stung to say that again, but it was probably the best way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caitlyn didn’t take her hand, instead folding her arms around her waist. “Did you hurt Barry?” she asked quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Barry?” Vanya cocked her head, looking at Klaus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Flash. Barry Allen,” explained Klaus, still sitting next to Ben, who was now propped up against a wall. She pointed to the unconscious man on the floor. “That guy.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caitlyn looked mortified to have given that information up, even though Klaus seemed to know all about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s your role here?” asked Luther, looking around the white glass room they were in, peering through the glass doors that led to what looked like a med bay, and beyond those to a room filled with tech. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m a doctor. And a medical scientist,” she replied grudgingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damn. They were supposed to have gotten the person in The Flash’s comms. That had to be this Cisco, then, who was lying unconscious. They were running out of time before the police barged in, however, and she would have to do. Vanya grabbed her by the arm. “Send a message to Green Arrow and Supergirl,” she demanded, forcing her eyes to go white and a ringing to start in the air. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I… can’t talk to Green Arrow?” she said hesitantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Right.” Diego scoffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t! He has his own tech support,” Caitlyn protested. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego stalked over to her, but Vanya shook her head. “I believe her!” she said, giving Diego a meaningful look. “Can we talk to Supergirl?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can set up a link with her?” she squeaked as Vanya tightened her grip on her arm a little. She wasn’t hurting Caitlyn, she really didn’t want to, but she had to get her family back. Had to be a help instead of a hindrance. Had to prove she could be useful, give herself a redemption ark. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Supergirl first,” ordered Luther as he stalked closer. “And no tricks. No calling for help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, right…” she said, leading Vanya and her to the computer table. “Uh… I think Supergirl’s com is… this one?” she said, reaching forward. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” ordered Diego, placing a gloved hand on hers. “Where is she?” he asked quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Um, she’s in National City.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s that?” Luther questioned. “Her base?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caitlyn cocked her head. “You don’t know where... uh, it’s about a thousand miles from here. Takes Supergirl about forty minutes to get there. North-east,” she supplied, voice shaking a little. Diego nodded, and then released Caitlyn’s hand. She tapped a few keys. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Static crackled. “Hello?” ventured Vanya hesitantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego pushed past her. “Supergirl.” His voice was commanding, dripping with confidence. Yeah, Diego should probably do this part. Pretending to be confident in front of the Flash had taken a lot out of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Cisco? Who is this?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>crackled the computer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is Number Two. We have Barry Allen and his team. We are willing to negotiate for the release of our sister, Number Three.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A pause. Vanya could hear quick breaths on the other end. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Free them. Now.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think so. And before you even think about coming here, remember that I will put a knife through Barry’s skull before you can even land in Central City.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another pause. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>How do I know you aren’t bluffing?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego gestured to Caitlyn. She looked between him and the computer before saying, hesitantly, “Supergirl? It’s me, Caitlyn. I-It’s true. T-Their sister was out front, and she--” Diego cut her off with a gesture. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s enough now,” he said ominously. “Do you believe us now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I do. Where should we meet to do the exchange?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Supergirl was surprisingly calm, though strained. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther pushed Diego aside to speak into the computer. “The Armory. Outside Central City.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Alright. Just don’t hurt them.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“We won’t if you won’t hurt Allison,” Diego said. “Meet us there in thirty minutes.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Put your hands up!” barked a police officer.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i... hate... every bit of this. and that's not me begging for compliments and reassurances, I literally hate all of this. also major plot holes and unwritten bits coming, heads up.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. An Act and a Trick</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The entirety of the Arrow's little crime family had questionable methods, that was half the point, but Felicity thought she might draw the line at kidnapping a child and locking him in a cave. Even if this child was an ‘interdimensional fugitive prick’ as Oliver put it, Felicity couldn’t help feeling guilty. Oliver had dragged him into the back room of their headquarters where they’d used to hold captives before, and had immediately procured an obscene amount of locks to lock their prisoner up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver had called her and told her about the situation as she was getting a cup of coffee. She’d heard the fight through her comms, of course, and had given Oliver advice on how to capture Number Five (with Cisco’s help), but she hadn’t anticipated how </span>
  <em>
    <span>young</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was. The child, Five, looked so innocent as he slept, even with the blood on his knuckles and his cheek. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It had to be done.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She kept telling herself, but as she watched through the security camera, she couldn’t help feeling they’d made a mistake. He was kind of a prick, she thought, but he was also just a kid! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Oliver had revealed he hadn’t given him any kind of food, she had to yell at him through their mikes. That was cruel, and insane, and she hadn’t missed the way he’d mouthed at her pathetically to help him. She tried to remember that he’d rammed a metal pipe into Oliver’s gut, but even that didn’t help. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It was self defense!</span>
  </em>
  <span> her conscious screamed. She felt every slap Oliver gave the boy, and wondered why he was so determined to find out where they’d come from. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he came out of the room, Felicity was folding her arms across her body self-consciously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He paused in front of her, peeling off his mask. “Say it,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Say what?” she asked quickly. Too quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What you’re thinking about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just… it’s just that he’s a kid!” she protested, her hand pulling out of her defensive posture of its own volition. Felicity pulled it back to herself quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s dangerous. He can </span>
  <em>
    <span>teleport</span>
  </em>
  <span> for God’s sake!” Oliver responded. “And who knows what his family can do. They need to be caught, and they need to be contained.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So convince him that! He said he’d obey if we asked. Nicely. Don’t involve his family just yet, and we can get him to Kara or Barry,” she said, turning away a little. “He’s not a criminal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not yet,” he growled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not how the justice system works,” Felicity added. “And, again, he’s just a kid!” she stuttered out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His fingers tapped on his thigh. “I… I don’t think he is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weren’t you listening? He said he was fourteen when he got his tattoo, and he said it was a while ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity scoffed. “What? He isn’t more than sixteen, at most.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He scrambled over to the computer screen showing the security cam on Five, who had slid down the pole to sit with his legs crossed, his head bowed. Oliver rewound the tape until it showed them talking about Five’s tattoo. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“--ot them as kids, if that’s what you’re asking. Except Vanya. Lucky her, I guess. In that one aspect.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“But why?” he asked. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Not your turn. But I’m feeling generous. They were a way of marking us to our father, I guess. Making sure we’d never forget. We got them when we were… thirteen, maybe fourteen? I don’t know, it’s been so long…”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>She frowned. “I guess. So maybe he’s a little older. Seventeen, maybe?” she said doubtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He folded his arms. “No kid talks that way. He’s an alien, he’s got powers. So what if he’s like, got slow aging or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First of all,” she said, putting up a finger. “He’s not an alien. He’s a human from another dimension. Cisco scanned them and they’re anatomically human. Second, he’s probably just mature! And I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell you his age, maybe that’s just sensitive where he comes from. He doesn’t know where Central City is, and he doesn’t know Green Arrow or The Flash or even Supergirl,” she ranted, hands flying everywhere. She was a little angry now. Just a touch. “He keeps talking about an apocalypse, so maybe he’s from a third world country or something!” she continued. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A third world country where there’s fancy school uniforms?” Oliver snapped back. “And where there’s outfits and knives like the ones his family was wearing? I don’t think so,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well maybe it’s an actual apocalypse. On that note, you don’t even know what he’s been going through! He’s only--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s not a kid!” interrupted Oliver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. He is!” growled back Felicity. They were almost nose to nose now, and Felicity could see the image of the boy on her screen, frozen in the moment he had been staring wistfully into the distance, his features sad and a little angry. She blew out hard through her mouth and took a step back. “Fine. Even if he’s not a kid, he’s a person. And no person deserves to be treated like that. I’m going to go talk to Five.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No. Felicity,” he grabbed her arm. “You can’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why not? You’ve tied him up nice and tight, haven’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He paused. “Fine. I’m coming with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” she repeated mockingly, stalking over to the door. When she opened it, Five looked up with hostility, and then hope. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-Hello,” he stuttered, but his expression darkened when he saw Oliver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ollie leaned against the wall, staying silent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Five,” Felicity said, squatting down in front of her. “I’m Felicity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He studied her critically, looking into her eyes when he was done. “You look like my mom,” he blurted suddenly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t know what to say to that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five cocked his head. “She’s a robot,” he added absentmindedly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>didn’t know what to say to that. “Oh… really,” she said when he stayed silent. “Listen, I’m sorry about Oliver,” she began guiltily. “He’s kind of hardcore. I’m gonna ask you a couple questions, all right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five looked between Oliver and her, and then started to smile wryly. “Is this seriously the good cop bad cop shtick?” He scoffed, looking away. “I’m not an idiot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not… it’s not… okay, it kind of is but that wasn’t intended,” she protested. “Listen, it’s not gonna hurt you to answer our questions.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged as much as he could in the restraints. “It might affect my family.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity sat down fully on the hard stone floor in the tiny room. “Are you worried we’re gonna hurt them?” she asked kindly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” he said, his voice serious but unconcerned, his blue-grey eyes locked with hers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why? We just want to know where you come from and what you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snorted again and looked away. “That's what they all say. Admit it, you’re either going to lock us up or make us do things we don’t want to do.” His voice was cold and tired, like he was done with the world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who made you like this?” she whispered, searching his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked at her, eyes exhausted and cheek bloody. Five said nothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who?” she asked him again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t answer. Not one word. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oliver scoffed and pushed open the door, leaving the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five immediately leaned forward, his whole expression changing. “Help me,” he whispered. “Please, Miss Felicity, these locks are hurting my hands really bad a-and my family’s gotta be so worried--” he broke off, tears filling his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity understood. The stone-faced boy was an act he put on, a facade for Oliver. He wouldn’t answer his questions because he was afraid he’d hurt his family after attacking them. But she did no such thing, and so he trusted her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity scooched closer. “I’m sorry--” she began. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, Miss Felicity, t-this is so scary, we’re just running away from these guys with guns and things an--N-Number One and Number Seven didn’t tell me ‘nothin and I, I, please--” he rambled in a whisper, a tear streaming down his cheek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Five, you can get out of here if you just cooperate,” she said softly, wiping the tear from his cheek with a trembling hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned into her hand before shaking his head violently. “I-I can’t. My family, they’d, they’d get hurt and I can’t cuz the last time I ran for help t-they got mad and I gotta protect Number Six and Number Four cuz they--” he paused, looking helplessly scared as his mouth shut with a clop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity knew then that what they were doing was wrong. How could this be right? Five’s only motives for not telling Oliver anything were protecting his family, a pure and noble intention. How could he be a criminal? He was just a poor kid who knew how to put on a brave face. She nodded to him. “If I get you out, will you answer some of my questions?” She’d show Oliver Queen that kindness could sometimes trump brute force. He nodded innocently, eyes big. "I’ll see what I can do,” she promised. “Just stay strong.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded again, straightening his back and biting his lip, a feeble hope lighting in his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity rose and walked out the door. It would be difficult to lie to Oliver, but he’d made it clear he wasn’t going to let Five go. She’d have to do this thing herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes someone else had to be kind for Green Arrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>                                                                                                                 ---</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oliver was cleaning an arrow when she opened the door. He looked at her with that cocky raised eyebrow that she hated to love. “Satisfied?” he said, pushing off the table he was leaning on to go get a rag that was laying on the opposite table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” she said shortly and primly. “I am. He’s...stubborn. He’s not going to give us any information unless we… do something drastic,” she added, fake grudgingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smirked. “So I was right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity rolled her eyes. “Yes, Ollie. You were right.” Had to wait until he left the room to steal the keys and the codes to the electronic locks… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And about him being older than he appears?” he asked, not quite done. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugged. The best way to get Ollie to get gone was to make him feel justified and leave him to bask in his glory. Usually he went to the gym after a mission, something about it clearing his head. Felicity thought the best way to clear a head was to use it, but that was just her opinion. “I don’t know. I think you might be right, there’s something about…” she grasped for something about his aspect that had seemed cocky in the performance the poor kid had put on for Oliver. “His eyes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right? They were so… cold!” he said excitedly, stepping near her. “I knew you’d come around. Alright, I’m heading to the gym. Gotta think up some questions to slip him up, and some way to hurt him without it being too much…” he mumbled as he walked his way out of her room, leaving the newly clean arrow on her desk. Felicity wanted to throw up at the mention of torturing Five.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Felicity waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps. Then she scrambled for the keys hanging outside the room Number Five was being held. Then she searched her computer for the electronic lock codes, scribbling them on the receipt for her coffee when she was done, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she did so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then she ran as hard as she could in her skirt for the door to Five’s cell. She skidded to her knees in front of him. He looked up, hope lighting up his young, innocent face. She smiled. “I got the keys!” she said excitedly, holding them in the air. She undid the locks around his ankles as he shifted to a more upright position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He began to cry again. “Y-You did? What about Green Arrow? O-Oliver?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shook her head as she crawled behind him to unlock the first set of locks and bands around his hands, out of six. “He doesn’t know,” she whispered. “Now, Five, you have to promise me that you’ll help us find your family when I get you out of here, okay? No running away. Because then Oliver’ll hurt you and we don’t want that to happen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five nodded furiously. “Yeah, y-yeah, of course, Miss Felicity!” he said as she worked on the third set of locks, halfway up his forearm, which was an electronic one. She punched in the numbers with deft fingers. She worked in silence until she only had one more to do, the one around Five’s neck. He was looking at her strangely as she undid the clasp, a sort of sudden melancholy sadness that was deeper than expected. Felicity let the neck lock fall, clattering to the floor. She tried to scan his manner to see what had changed, but all that she could come up with was that it was like a covering had slipped away. Like a sugar coating on top of a candy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.” Five’s eyes were grey again, and stony with pity. They were sharp and dead at the same time, like he had seen everything and wasn’t afraid he was going to miss anything anymore. A kid shouldn’t look like that. Felicity was struck with another realization as he stood, looking down at her on the floor, rubbing his wrists, tears gone like they’d never been there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This wasn’t the act. This was the real Five. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her mistakes came crashing down. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How have I been so stupid?</span>
  </em>
  <span> She’d been taken in by an act, by a kid calling her ‘Mom’. “H-How old are you?” she stuttered, too shocked to stand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five looked at her with pity, straightening his coat. She caught the flash of the tattoo on his arm. “You don’t need to know that,” he responded simply. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He shrugged. “Though I suppose telling you a little about myself wouldn’t do any harm. As an apology. Though, my age… I think I’ll keep that one for myself, just because the Green Arrow seemed so fixated on that tidbit.” Those quick hands of his straightened his cuffs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five looked her in the eyes when he was done, those stone grey eyes boring into her head. “I was trained from basically birth to kill by my father, in an elite academy with my siblings. I then made a mistake and spent… a long time alone. In a wasteland.” His jaw tightened. “Then, from there, I was offered a job to kill for a powerful organization called The Temps Commission. As it was my only option to ever see another human again, I took it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled dryly as Felicity blinked back shock and fear, placing his hands on his knees to sneer at her. “I betrayed them. I betrayed the most powerful company in that world to get back to my family.” He made one last adjustment, tightening the navy blue tie of his uniform. “Now,” he finished condescendingly, “why would you assume I wouldn’t do the same to you?” he asked, smiling innocently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Number Five made a mock salute and, in a rush of blue, simply disappeared. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>BAMF Five, there ya go</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. An Adventure in Being Useful</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey uhhhhhh so I didn't write a chapter that was supposed to go like....... four chapters back. <br/>so basically, Cisco had a huge moral dillema over whether or not the umbrella kids are good people or not and instead of making something to kill all of them he made a power-dampening collar for all of them. good? good.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Barry was fucked. He was absolutely fucked in all directions. His comms only worked if Cisco was there to direct him and he had no way to track the family. Had no way to get Cisco and Caitlyn back unless Kara gave up Number Three (Allison), who they had theorized was the most powerful of all of them, at least practically. Oliver had live streamed his interrogation of Number Five, the kid. The video had unexpectedly cut out, however, and when it got back online Five was gone. Oliver had explained in a growling rush how Five had guilted Felicity into freeing him, and after a brief round of questioning he’d left to go, presumably, berate Felicity. Barry winced, as he sympathized with Felicity (he was just a kid). He also agreed with Oliver on some points, however. There definitely was a sort of aged, worldly vibe to Five. And they needed to know more about the family, and if they had to do some drastic things, well, they had to do some drastic things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost immediately after he’d ended the conversation with Oliver a white-clothed woman had appeared in the security cams. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry’s suit had beeped like crazy near her, which Cisco told him was an alert he’d put in to tell Barry if there were any dimension-hopping family members around. He’d gotten mostly a fat load of nothing out of his conversation with Vanya, only a beating and a ringing in his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d woken up and, embarrassingly, ran away, but Barry could see now that had been the only option. But without Cisco and Cait there wasn’t a lot he could do to see where the family was going. He certainly couldn’t fight them, and in the time it would take him to ferry Oliver and his crew over to Central City (twelve minutes) they’d probably already be done with the exchange. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry tried to catalogue his options and resources as he ran to Star City. He had to run somewhere, and Star City was closer than National City.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was that thing in his suit that detected interdimensional forces, but he had no idea how to activate it. Cisco had rigged it to beep a little whenever a dimensional entity was in close range, so that was useful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What could he do to be useful, though? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A thought hit his head as he skidded into the entrance to Star City. Five. If he could catch him, he could bring him back to the site and… do something clever to get Cisco and Cait back. No, he couldn’t do that. They were already going to trade for Allison, anyway. Barry hoped they were alright. The silence in his comms was deafening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But catching Five was useful. If Supergirl went through with the trade then they’d have no leverage against the family. Barry ran to Oliver’s hideout, a red blur on the streets. He ducked into the alley beside Oliver’s base and grabbed some clothes from the stash he’d stuffed there. In the cache were also some special handcuffs Cisco had whipped up just in case, along with jeans and a S.T.A.R labs sweatshirt. He slipped into those and realized he’d forgotten socks, so the special Flash shoes were kind of uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a burst of inspiration Barry pried the device that detected interdimensional emissions off his suit and stuck it in his pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He fished around the grab bag, knowing Cisco had stuffed in some random inventions they hadn’t ever had a use for. He found a rod he was pretty sure zapped people like a weirdly-shaped taser, which Barry put back. Then he found a metal thing, which, when he pushed the button on the side, turned into a sort of metal gag.  They’d needed that for when the girl with the sonic boom voice was in town, but Oliver had dealt with that so it hadn’t ever been used. He stuffed it in his pocket with the special power-dampening collar Cisco had workshopped and the handcuffs. Oliver had described him as a ‘slippery little bastard unless caught by surprise’, which Barry was luckily very good at, and those things should help him keep Five without having to knock him unconscious. The kid had been out cold twice in one day, that couldn’t be good for brain function.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shoved his hands into his hoodie and tried to think about where he would go if he was in a strange new world with no help. Oliver had told him that Five was older than he seemed, so kid’s places like the McDonald’s or the park would probably be empty of interdimensional-hopping schoolkids. He checked them anyway, sneaking into the McDonalds and then zipping out when Cisco’s alert stayed quiet. He didn’t bother checking the park because it was empty of people who weren’t homeless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry walked along a nearby mostly abandoned strip mall with the device in his hand, drawing no stares in his hoodie and jeans. He had to walk normally, thanks to the constant stream of night owls heading in and out of the mall. It beeped as he passed by a strip club, but he disregarded that as a fluke. But he walked by again on his way back and it made its little noise again. His feet stilled and the device kept beeping in his hand. Barry paused, looking between the device and the strip club, The Blue Ribbon. He paled. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Surely I won’t have to go in there?</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>short chapter today. that's alright.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Respect the Hustle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>shameless plug of my own stuff down below!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Five wouldn’t say he felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> about tricking Felicity. He needed to get out of there and he couldn’t give up his family, so he’d done the only thing available to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then why the absolute fuck did you tell her about the Commission?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know why. Maybe because she looked like Grace. Maybe because there was a little tiny sliver of human decency left inside him that the Commission hadn’t replaced with a killer’s blood. Whatever. He needed a drink and to look at a pretty woman dancing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There weren’t a lot of places he could have found that, and he really wasn’t partial to the woman dancing (the alcohol was the important bit) but only twenty minutes after he limped out of the Green Arrow’s base, he’d spotted a strip club shoved between a smoke shack and what looked like a restaurant that had gone out of business. He snuck in the back way and popped behind the bar, startling the bartender into dropping the glass he was cleaning. “Shit!” he gasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five looked at the shards at his feet and shrugged. His eyes tightened as he looked the bartender over. Five quickly bent over and picked up the longest, sharpest, shard of glass, holding it gingerly. Then he squeezed it tight and grinned at the bartender as blood dripped down his hand. “Gin, vodka if you have it,” he ordered quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bartender glanced towards the guard at the door. Five rolled his eyes and teleported behind him. He tapped the man on the shoulder, having to stand on his tiptoes. “Please,” he added through gritted teeth. The man yelped and then nodded frantically, reaching for a glass. Amid the blue light of the strip joint, Five’s teleportation went mainly unnoticed, but he still wanted to conserve his energy. He walked around to a bar stool, where he sat looking at the beautiful women dancing amid showers of dollar bills, admiring their work. Sighing, he turned his attention to the cut in his leg where he knew Oliver had implanted a chip. For a vigilante, he certainly had access to tech. He hiked his leg up onto his knee and grabbed the margarita the bartender was offering him with shaking hands. Five took a long sip (it was vodka) and dug into his leg with the glass shard he’d grabbed off the floor when the bartender had dropped his glass. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kid, what are you--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m goddamn fifty-eight,” Five growled back to the bartender as he reopened the cut. Fishing into his wound, much like he’d done with the Handler’s chip, he finally found it. It was smaller than hers had been, but green and blinking still. The people designing these things really needed to work on their creativity. He popped it out to the bartender’s shock and leaned back over the wooden bar to grab a scotch glass, smashing the tracker to pieces with the heavy bottom. Then he grabbed the God-blessed vodka and took a swig, blinking back tears from the sting and the pain in his calf. He gasped and coughed, pounding his fist on his chest, finally wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. The bartender reached for his phone, but Five shot him a glare and he slowly put it back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, because he was attracting attention, he took his drink and walked to the back table where he could watch the gently moving curves in peace. He swiped a cloth napkin from someone’s breast pocket and collapsed, exhausted, into the dark corner table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five took another drink as he attempted to clean up his self-inflicted wound. A fat man in a pinstripe suit walked by and gave him a strange look, but at this point he didn’t care. He needed a break. Luther and Diego could take over for a while. Five had done his duty. He’d saved his family. He’d escaped the vigilante The Green Arrow. As long as he wasn’t actively endangering them he was fine, right? He deserved to live. He deserved to drink. He could feel his brain getting fuzzy as he took another sip. Delores had hated his drinking habit. Especially in this body, which apparently hated vodka. He loved vodka, though. And besides, nobody could find him here, right? He was safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone slid into the seat across from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five squinted at the blonde man who was blocking his view of the lovely redhead that had just waltzed on stage, high heels clicking on the black material amid whistles. He set down his drink and leaned forward. “I don’t know who the fuck you are but as far as I’m concerned I’m watching a pretty young lady perform and you’re in the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blonde man shifted uncomfortably, trying to hunch down, blushing furiously. Probably never been in a strip club before. Five took another swig. “I’m a friend of the Flash’s,” the young man whispered, leaning closer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five’s eyebrows rose of their own accord as he reluctantly dragged his eyes to the young man’s face. “By that you mean you’re the Flash, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head. “No, no, of course not, I’m his friend.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See, if I had a secret identity and had to wear a mask, I’d just send myself to get a fugitive, pretending to be a normal person, because I wouldn’t want to put anyone else in danger,” he said, feeling buzzed from the alcohol but not drunk yet. “How’d you find me?” he said, glancing at his calf to wipe away some more blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash shifted, and then his face started to vibrate so Five couldn’t see it. Five took note of his clothing, which was a dark hoodie that said something that Five’s eyes, unaccustomed to the dim, couldn’t make out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, neat trick, but I know what you look like, kid,” Five said, reaching for his drink. The Flash knocked it away. It crashed to the ground, shattering on impact. Five frowned, hand still in midair. </span>
  <em>
    <span>My vodka...</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re coming with me,” the young man growled. The Flash’s hand raised upward and started to vibrate. “Or I’ll put this hand through your chest.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five’s senses suddenly perked up, on high alert. “I don’t want to do this right now,” he sighed, gritting his teeth. “Can we at least wait till the show’s over?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve got a lot of moxie, kid,” he scoffed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m fifty fucking eight. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Come with me.” He grabbed Five’s arm with his un-vibrating hand, but Five teleported out of the way just in time, hiding behind a pole near the front. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A waitress passed by and had a double take when she saw Five. She marched up to him, hip cocked against her platter, brow furrowed. “What are you doing in here, kid?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grabbed her jewelry-studded hand and gave her his best wide-eyed kid panic look. “Help me! Miss, I was coming home from school and this, this man grabbed me and-and I didn’t know where else to go, please--” he blubbered. Damn if this body wasn’t useful at times. Though, it had kind of gotten him into this mess anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her brown eyes widened. “Oh. My goodness, did he follow you in here?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five nodded glancing over his shoulder. He spotted a guy in a hoodie he thought might be the Flash elbowing himself through the crowd. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five pointed. “That’s him! Please, miss, I don’t know what to do--” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She ran over to the security guy standing near the door while Five looked wildly around for a way out. He crouched and teleported over to the opposite corner, near stage right. He saw yellow lightning but couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from, but that was concerning enough. He teleported past the security guard outside the backstage entrance, trying to guess where it would be least likely he would get a pipe stuck in his gut. He’d found out early in his training that teleporting into objects would leave the objects in his body, and ever since he’d gotten a beetle stuck in his foot he’d been overcautious about teleporting into unknown situations. He landed safely, however, and was surrounded by the ropes and costumes of a theater backstage. Five started to run when he heard commotion from beyond the door, but there were piles of stuff everywhere and he had no idea where the exit was. He dodged and weaved through the ropes, trying to act natural when he saw dancers on their breaks, although he did stop to admire them every once in a while. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A hand clasped his forearm, stopping him in his tracks. “Hey, kid, you’re not supposed to be in here--” whispered a girl with dark brown skin and beautiful eyes and… beautiful other things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What time are you getting off work?” Five asked, smirking as he admired those other things. He supposed it was creepy from both of his ages, but time travel made romance and age limits so confusing he didn’t really want to bother. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made a shocked noise in the back of her throat, pulling her hand away. “The audacit--” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five winked before moving on, as he’d just heard the door of the stage right backstage wing open and close behind him. He ducked behind a rack of costumes made of sequins but it was too late. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a blur of light and a hand clasped around his mouth and his hand from behind. “That was clever,” growled the Flash. “Those security grunts were very convinced I was a child predator.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five bit his hand and tried to stomp on his foot, but as soon as he did so, the Flash had handcuffs around his hands and a collar that emitted a blue light around his neck. Five struggled and sneered. “Well,” he spat. “You are chasing a minor through a strip club to put him in shackles and a collar.” He tried to kick the man in front of him, but he dodged out of the way. “Klaus would say that’s pedophilic and kinky.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash scoffed. “Klaus says a lot of things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five tried to teleport, but somehow he was flung back to his present spot, his powers whirring and then stuttering to a stop. If teleportation was skating along the ice, then he’d just lost his ice skates somehow. Five frowned and tried again, getting more and more panicked. It wasn’t working, but he wasn’t that tired. Was it the alcohol?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Flash tapped his ear, smirking under the mask he’d put on. “It worked, Cisco.” His face fell for a little bit, only to be replaced by more anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The collar. Five stumbled back into the costumes rack and tried to yell for help but the Flash grabbed his shoulder and his mouth and pulled him into his arms. Five pushed against him and tried to teleport but was flung back where he was, blue light fluttering around the two of them. Five yelled through the hold on his mouth and caught a glimpse of the Flash’s hand reaching into his pocket. Five turned his mouth away when he saw the metal machine. “No, no, no--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Flash clamped the metal gag over Five’s mouth and he felt it spread cold, metallic, arms over his mouth. Five screamed but there was no sound. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the world was a blur. The black and browns and greys of backstage were replaced by the yellow lights and dark blues and greens of the outside world. Five struggled and spat and tried to get off this ride but he was getting nauseous and dizzy as the Flash ran with Five in his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop--struggling,” growled the Flash. “I don’t want to drop you,” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five yelled </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck you </span>
  </em>
  <span>into the gag and tried to teleport again, but he was snapped back into his present place, vibrating blue. He yelled some more, just for the hell of it, and the Flash stayed silent. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Again. I’m getting kidnapped </span>
  </em>
  <span>again. He started to hyperventilate, because he was helpless. He was utterly helpless and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>despised</span>
  </em>
  <span> being helpless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five pouted. As a fifty-eight-year-old man, he pouted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because what else could he do?</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ok this is the only chapter I really like, and also the last one I have fully written. so. gonna be a week or so until next update. comments are appreciated, I don't really know why I hate this whole thing so much. also I am a selfish and attention-hogging person and I like compliments too :) but they are by no means necessary. <br/>oh! if you like marvel head over to my other umbrella academy work thingy, we need an umbrella. <br/>and stranger things fans!! I have a crossover with that too!! go check it out.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Giant Fight Scene and Etc.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Giant fight scene. The Flash tries to bargain Five off to get the rest to surrender, Five struggles too much and hurts the Flash somehow and gets shot badly by Green Arrow, this sets off a fight scene in which Diego does practically nothing besides distract Green Arrow, Luther and Vanya team up on Supergirl, Ben fights the Flash, and Allison is knocked unconsious halfway through by Green Arrow. The Justice League wins, they take all the (knocked unconsious) Academy Members back to a base, where Kara had been speed-building a giant glass cage for them to put the Academy Members into. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Somewhere before this there's supposed to be a chapter where we see Kara talking to Allison (who is kidnapped and gagged) and telling her about her adventures.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But I don't want to write any of that. Having a shitty day, okay? Okay. Maybe I'll write it later. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>So here we go. </em>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sorry</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. All Together, Now!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luther woke up to glass, glass, and more glass. He sat up, weak and woozy, feeling at the metal ring around his neck. He scrambled to his feet and looked around wildly, breath coming in short, panicked, pants. He was in a glass room with four walls, high enough he couldn’t reach up and touch the ceiling but only small enough for him to walk a couple steps in any direction. The walls were made of glass, and beyond them he could see his family, each in their own cell. They were in a circle, the cells making a ring like slices of a cake. The middle was cut out though, so the sections were more of a trapezoid than a triangle. Luther’s heart slowed when he saw Allison lying unconscious in the cell next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther took a deep breath and punched the glass between them, but the glass didn’t break. It didn’t even crack, and his hand hurt like hell, as well as his neck which had been zapped by the collar. He tried to tear it off but pain shot through his neck again. “Aghh…” he groaned, grabbing it with both hands. He felt… weak. He’d never felt weak before. He gasped and panted, throwing down his hands, defeated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther was next to Allison, who was next to Five, who was next to Ben, who was next to Diego, who was next to Klaus, who was next to Vanya, who was next to Luther. Outside their little cells there was a hallway stretching around the whole circle. There was white tile on the walls of the hallway and black stone floors. Luther took a step back and punched the glass, but the collar zapped him again. He sighed and slid down the wall closest to Allison, banging his head against the wall. He looked at his siblings. Five seemed to be patched up, though the bandage wrapped around his torso was really bloody. Diego was twitching in his sleep, laying back down on the floor. His stupid knife suit was gone. Vanya’s white suit coat was also gone, as well as her tie. Klaus was just a pile of shivering limbs in the stale, cold, air. Luther noted that they all had white bandages over their wrists, including himself. He ripped the bandage off and squinted at the small holes in his skin. Luther looked down and noted that his overcoat was gone as well as, weirdly, his shoes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-id you build this place so fast?” said someone, coming through the door between Diego’s cell and Klaus’s. Luther stood up quickly. It was the short man with the weird hair with Supergirl, though she was in normal clothes and had glasses on now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther pounded on the glass connecting to the hallway. “Hey!” he shouted angrily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He jumped back. “Shit! He’s awake!” They exchanged a glance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you said they were gonna be out for another twenty minutes?” demanded the girl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it was probably his weird gorilla blood or something! I don’t know, ask Cait,” he protested. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther banged on the glass again. “Where are we?” he growled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco shrugged. “I don’t see why we should tell you,” he said, crossing his arms self importantly. Damn. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, Cisco, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Luther pleaded, wringing his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope. Y'all kidnapped me,” he said, raising his hands and exiting the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther banged on the glass again as they left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So they’re gonna be safe in there?” murmured Supergirl as the door slammed behind them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther slid down the glass again. “Dammit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Diego start. “Whassgoinon?” he said, his words a blur as he scrambled to his feet, putting his hands out in front of him in a woozy boxing stance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther shrugged. “We’re trapped. You can sit back down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego blinked. “Uh...what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re trapped. These collars dampen our powers somehow,” he explained, pointing at the silvery metal around his neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He frowned, and tried to pull it off. It didn’t zap him like it did with Luther, but it did stay. “I think it absorbs our powers,” Luther added as he struggled. “It zaps you when you use your powers.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego stopped struggling, and looked at Luther. Suddenly he plopped to the floor. “Well shit.” he said, running a hand through his hair. He looked around the room. “Anyone else up yet?” he asked futilely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther shook his head. “No. The tech guy and Supergirl were in here just a minute ago, though. I think that’s what woke you up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did they say anything interesting?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. Though the tech guy really doesn’t like us now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego shrugged. “I wouldn’t like us either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya’s arm suddenly went to her hair, rubbing her head. “D-Diego?” she asked woozily as she heaved herself up into a sitting position. “What’s… where are we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus started too at her words, scrambling to his knees, looking wildly around. Remarkably, he didn’t have a collar around his neck like the rest of them. “What’s… oh.” He peered at the glass, tapping it almost drunkenly. “We’re in rehab,” he remarked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya stared. “We’re in what?” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we’re not in rehab, Klaus,” Diego snapped. “We’re in a futuristic prison where they’re gonna perform experiments on us and lock us away forever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya gasped while Klaus said dejectedly, “Oh. That’s worse then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther shook his head. “You don’t know that’s what they want, Diego.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why else would they have us all together, Luther?” he growled. “With these?” he pointed at the bandage on his arm with disgust and fear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben gasped, sitting up without using his hands like he was in a movie and just got possessed. “Am I dead again?” he asked faintly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus gave him a pitying look. “No, Ben. You’re with us in the land of the living. It sucks here, by the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben scrambled away and started looking for his sweatshirt. “Where the hell are we?” he asked, bewildered, hands empty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A lab--” started Luther.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-got fuckin’ needle marks in my arm--” interrupted Diego in a whisper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya raised a hand. “Hey, do you know what they did with my violin-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-not now, Vanya! Ben, Supergirl and Ci-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-hold up this is a shit ton of glass. How much did this cost?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego turned sharply. “Shut up Klaus, nobody cares! Wait, Luther, what did they do with-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-try experiments!” Vanya said, trying to explain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“-my knives?” Diego gasped, outraged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everyone shut up!” shouted Luther. There were audible clops as people shut their mouths. “Ben, we’re--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben raised an eyebrow. “No, no, I think I got it. Lab. Experiments. Et cetera.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison gasped loudly from the corner, scrambling to a sitting position, looking around wildly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther immediately leaned off the glass and turned to her. “Allison, are you okay? They took us to a lab. We can’t get out, because of these collars. They turn off our powers somehow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She went to her knees, and pointed at her throat, trying to talk. “Oh my god, what did they do to you?” Luther asked, shocked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pointing, Allison’s mouth gaped. “Does it hurt?” asked Ben worriedly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shook her head, her brow beetling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh,” said Diego. “Weird.” She shrugged, and tugged at the collar. “Oh. We’re in a lab. People gonna do experiments on us.” Allison raised her eyebrows, then nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost simultaneously, all of them scooched to the center of the circle where they could see everyone. And almost simultaneously, all of them looked at Five, who was the last one still unconscious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He really got hurt, didn’t he,” said Ben quietly. While the rest of them were either sitting cross-legged or leaning back on their hands with their feet crossed, Ben had opted to lie on his stomach and place his chin in his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He kind of deserved it,” remarked Diego. “Got us stuck here in the first place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya shook her head. “You’re so callous, Diego.” She was fiddling with her hands, though she didn’t seem to be freaking out over the lack of space. Maybe it was the glass or that someone was with her in the cage this time. Luther felt a pang of guilt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison tapped on the glass between Five and her. He didn’t stir. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther scooched closer to the middle. “So. Anyone got an escape plan?” he asked eagerly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” said Diego. “If I had one I probably wouldn’t discuss it in front of a security camera.” He gestured towards the bubble security camera in the middle of the glass cage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vanya nodded. “Yeah, they’re probably keeping us together to see if we’ll spill any information when we’re together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s true!” agreed Ben, pointing at her from the floor. “Vanya’s smart. So nobody say anything you haven’t already given up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus spread his hands. “Ben. They already have us, what’s the point in keeping secrets?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben glared at him. “Secrets are important. Like my name, for example.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh, shit, sorry. But wait, didn’t you just spoil Vanya’s name?” he pointed at their white-clad sister. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben blinked in surprise. “Oh shit. Sorry, Vanya,” he said, wincing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugged. “It’s okay. I don’t really understand why Five insisted on codenames, anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Those aren’t our codenames,” Diego pointed out. “Those are our birth names. Our numbers. Our codenames are much different, White Violin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison raised an eyebrow, turning to Vanya. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She blushed. “They made me a name. It’s kinda stupid but…” she trailed off, looking at Luther and Diego. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison gave her a thumbs up and Vanya blushed, ducking her chin into her collar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five sat up and groaned, drawing the attention of everyone in the strange room. “Five!” cried Luther, looking through Allison’s room to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t try to get up,” Diego warned, but Five did anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He poked gingerly at the arrow wound. “Jesus.” He squinted at the strangely shaped glass room. “The hell is this place?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben shrugged, tapping on the window. “It’s a lab where the heroes of this world are gonna perform experiments on us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well fuck,” Five breathed. “Fuck all of you,” he said, wincing as he prodded his wound. “Except Vanya and Ben.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Klaus looked offended. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Klaus, eat shit, but the rest of you can get fucked,” growled Five. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been promoted! Lovely,” muttered Klaus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about me?” asked Diego, looking like he was hatching to murder him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You?” Five chuckled. “You were practically useless in that battle. If anyone deserves a fuck you, it’s you, Number Two.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you so mean?” whined Klaus. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because nobody else is, Number Four,” he limped to the center, collapsing to the floor. He pulled at his collar, grimacing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do we have to use codenames?” asked Vanya, cocking her head curiously, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged. “I guess I just thought the less they know about us the better. Also it was sort of a precaution if we have doppelgangers here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do we?” asked Ben. His curiosity could have killed ten cats, thought Luther fondly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five shook his head. “I don’t think so. But yeah, I think names are fine. Where’s the security cameras?” he asked, looking around. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther and Diego pointed. He looked at it with a fixed intensity. “Okay. I think it’s okay to tell them everything except the extent of our abilities.” Klaus and Luther nodded while Diego glared. Ben remained silent, thinking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, what about the apocalypse?” exclaimed Vanya suddenly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Five nodded. “Don’t tell them about that either. Good point, Vanya, thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” asked Klaus, confused. “Shouldn’t they know? It’s their world,” he whispered the last part. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego threw up his hands. “Yeah. What if-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” said Luther firmly. Allison glanced at him, surprised, but smiling proudly. “We won’t let it happen again. We can fix… it. We can fix it.” He forced himself to look at Vanya. She inclined her head gratefully. Luther couldn’t hear, but he thought she whispered </span>
  <em>
    <span>thank you.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Maybe he could fix what he’d done. Redeem himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego looked skeptical, but he shrugged. “Whatever. Five can always y’know, zap us out of here, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glared at him. “Not with this collar on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Once you get it off though, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, yeah, but I wasn’t gonna tell them that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shouldn’t we tell them everything? Besides the stuff.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I said the extent of our abilities,” growled Five. “Listen. Everyone just shut up. They’re probably-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slid open again, causing Luther, Diego, and Allison to rise. Five tried to, but he sat back down, wincing and clutching his gut, which was a cause for concern. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cisco and Supergirl looked out disdainfully over the seated Ben, Klaus and Five. Cisco tapped at the tablet he was holding, and Luther’s door slid open. “Number One,” said Kara. “Come with us.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kay so this chapter is a little confusing. Basically this is the interrogation log. Each academy member is taken in one at a time, but I didn't want to have y'all read the same questions over and over again so they're recorded in order of question. Question 1, question 2, and so on.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Interrogator 1: Cisco<br/>Interrogator 2: Felicity<br/>Interrogator 3: Oliver<br/>Interrogator 4: Caitlyn<br/>Interrogator 5: Barry<br/>Interrogator 6: Kara<br/>Editor: Felicity</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogation Transcript: </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Each interview took place over fifteen minutes, with the prisoners separated. They each answered each of the these questions and these are their responses, separated by question for comparison. The participants are listed below each question in the order in which they were interrogated.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Note: the participant Number Three (Allison Hargreeves) has abilities that are connected to her voice, so she has written her answers down for the safety of the interrogators. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Question: What is your name?</span>
  </em>
</p><p><em><span>Number One: Luther Hargreeves. A-Are you writing this down?</span></em><em><span><br/></span></em> <em><span>Interrogator 1: Yes. Well, sort of. I made a program that writes stuff down when it hears it. So yeah, Luther Hargreeves, we’re writing this down. Why did I tell you that? You kidnapped me. Get it together, </span></em><em><span>Cisco. </span></em></p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: How’d you make that? Oh, you modified a recorder. Of course.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Whaddaya mean ‘of course’? Which-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Quiet. Hargreeves? Number Five told me your last name was Finch. If you’re a family, why do you have different last names?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Oh. He lied. He does that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Two: Thomas Hargreeves. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: He’s lying. Wait, </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Cisco</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, this red line means he’s lying, right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Oh, yeah. Don’t worry, you’re doing great. Wow. He’s lying really well. Woulda fooled any normal polygraph. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: It is, isn’t it? Oh. It’s not. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: You learn to get used to the constant upgrading of stuff. Half the stuff in my med bay is better than the top-of-the-line thanks to him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: And half the stuff blows up every so often thanks to him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: True. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Let’s get back on topic, shall we? What’s your real name?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Two: *sighs* Diego. Diego Hargreeves. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Three: You already know mine. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: It’s for the record. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Three: Well, technically it’s Number Three Hargreeves. But you can call me Allison Hargreeves. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Four: Klaus Hargreeves. Hey, why are there so many people in here? You don’t need </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>The Flash</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Supergirl</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, and </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Green Arrow</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>. I don’t bite like my siblings.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Shut up, Klaus.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: No. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Five: Five Hargreeves. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: We said normal names. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Five: I told you in the warehouse. I don’t have a normal name.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*editor’s note. Interrogator 3 slapped Number Five at this point. Which he shouldn’t have done. Even if he is a little conniving son of a bitch.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Tell me the truth!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Five: P-Please! It is my name! </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Stop playing games. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Oliver</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>. Stop! He’s just a kid. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Jesus. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Oh no. He’s a lot older than that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Five: Please!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: I-I have to agree with </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Oliver</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>. Treat this kid like an adult. He was in a-a *whispers* strip club when I found him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Five: *chuckles* That ruse is over with, I guess. It was worth one last try. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Six: Ben Hargreeves! </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*editors note: He was weirdly cheerful. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Seven: V-Vanya Hargreeves. Or Number Seven, if you like. Sorry about the kidnapping thing, by the way. Hope I didn’t hurt you?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: I have a pretty bad bruise on my back. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: It’s worth a little. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Question: How old are you?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Thirty-one. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Thirty-one. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: Thirty-one.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Isn’t that the same as the other two?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: I think so.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: What, are you all twins or something? Except Five?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Number Three: Something like that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Thirty-one. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Come on. Answer the question.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Fourteen. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: That’s a lie. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Fine. Fifty-eight.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Pshaw. Stop messing around. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: He… he wasn’t lying?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: What? You’ve gotta be reading that wrong. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: No. I really am fifty-eight. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Shit. I knew it, </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Felicity</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, I knew it! How?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: I tried time travelling and got stuck in the future where all of my siblings were dead. I lived there for forty-five years and then got picked up by the Temps Commission, which is an organization that monitors space and time. I was trained to be an assassinator and then tried to time travel back to get to my siblings when I got stuck in this body. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: That was… all true. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Damn. So that’s how you know how to fight so good?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: No. My father taught me that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: I don’t know. I was dead for a while. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: What?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Thirty-one I guess. Though it’s more like fourteen. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: What?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: That’s when I died. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Is that why they were acting all sappy on you when you came out of the portal? You became alive again going through the portal?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: I guess. Yeah. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: What was… death like?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Cold. Sort of like the constant feeling of putting a battery on your tongue, except all over? It’s getting harder to remember. Oh! I wrote it all down in a paper in my jacket. I don’t know where you put it, though.  </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Kara,</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span> where’s that jacket? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Thirty-one.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Interrogation 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yeah, I know. more of this shit</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Question: What is your superpower or superpowers?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Super strength. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: How much? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: It varies. I think it just depends on how much I need. Or how angry I am.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: What’s the most you’ve ever lifted?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: I lifted a cement truck once. There was a baby trapped underneath, so yeah… it was kinda urgent. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Damn. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Anything I throw or is in the air goes where I want it to. Oh, and because superpowers make no sense, I can breathe underwater. For a really long time. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: What. How does that work?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Hell if I know, buddy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: How big are the things you can control?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: I don’t know. I guess it’s easier with little things. Like knives or bullets. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: You can deflect bullets?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Not deflect. Move. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Why don’t you use a gun, then? That seems lik-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Do not question the knives. Do not. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3:  Is it possible to dodge one of your knives?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: No. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: That was a lie. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: You have to move in a way I can’t predict. Like if Five teleports out of the way I won’t be able to hit him unless I know where he’s gonna end up. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: I… am the bridge between life and death. I have died and met God. I am the mourning king. The dead are my subjects and the underworld is my kingdom.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: You talk to dead people.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: I talk to dead people. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: You haven’t seriously met God, right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Oh, yeah. Didn’t like me, but her bike was cool. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: What? Cisco, this is ridiculous. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: When I say the phrase “I heard a rumor” to someone, whatever I say next comes true. It has to be in the past tense, and if it’s impossible they just die. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: That was very succinct, thank you. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: Sure thing, Green Diego. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Right now? No powers. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Without the collar, old man. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Spacial travel, or teleportation. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Anything else?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: No.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: That’s a lie. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Time travel. And dimension travelling, apparently. I am inexperienced with both of those, however. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: I can summon monsters through my chest, though right now this big guy with the tentacles is blocking the way. I think he was upset I died. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: Do you have, like, a mental connection with them?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: No. I don’t, it’s just that when I was a kid there were more that came out. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Like what?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: They were similar. One of them was like, more of a squid? It had skinnier tentacles. It’s been a while, sorry.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Powers? Oh, yeah. Um. I’m not sure how it works, but when I concentrate on a sound, I can make it do things. Like make things float or… make things explode or make a light. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: You glow when you do it, right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Yes. And apparently my eyes change colors too. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Yes. I saw that when we fought at S.T.A.R Labs. Why?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I don’t know. It just sort of… happens. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Question: Do you all have superhero names? If so, what are they? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Yes. We do. Mine is Spaceboy, as Supergirl already knows. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: Yeah, yeah, we just needed it for the record. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: What’s the record for, anyway?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: We need it because, frankly, we’ve never seen anyone like you all before. This is just in case it ever happens again. And also to record what exactly you said, instead of just paraphrasing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Oh. Thank you. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Yeah. We don’t use ‘em anymore, though. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Why not?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Well we’re not superheroes anymore, are we?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: </span>
  </em>
  <span>You</span>
  <em>
    <span> are. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Yeah, but it’s kind of stupid to use a superhero name if nobody else is. I mean, what use is being called, “The Kraken” if there’s nobody else to distinguish from? I’m just Diego. The dude that saves lives. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: The Kraken? That’s a horrible name for you! </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: We picked it when we only knew about the breathing-under-water-thing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: The Rumor. For obvious reasons. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: The Seance. Though I always opted for the Human Ouija Board, but that name never caught on. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: No, no, The Seance is a great name. Keep it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Not really. Not for me. Just Five. Well, Number Five if you want to get technical about it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: There’s a lot of things you’re exempt from, huh? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Well. The Handler always referred to me as “The Boy” but who wants to be known as that? Besides, I’ll grow out of this stupid body eventually. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Who’s the Handler? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: You don’t need to know that. She can’t come here. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: The Horror. I… I don’t like it. I don’t like being a superhero, to be honest. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Why not?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Killing people… I-I… it’s painful. Bad… bad memories. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Is that how you died?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: I don’t want to talk about it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: You kind of have to. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Please. I… I know it sounds silly, but I want that to be private. I… I don’t want you to know, really. I can promise that it will not affect anything you need to know.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: That’s the truth. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Alright. I can respect some amount of privacy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I just got it, but they call me The White Violin. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Is the ‘the’ optional? Or is it capitalized?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I don’t know. I’d guess it is, just because my sibling’s names have ‘the’ in front of them. Except Luther’s. </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Interrogation 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Question: What do you want?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: My family just wants to be sa-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: No, what do you specifically want?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: ...me? I guess I want… a second chance.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: With who?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: With everyone. With Vanya. With my life, I guess. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: Yes. You. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Why are we asking this question again? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: Well, up to now they’ve been answering as a family. I want to see what they want as individuals. So, Diego?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: You don’t get to call me that. Number Two is fine. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: Fine. Number Two?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: I want out of here. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: Is that all you want?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: No. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Then what do you want?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: That’s none of your business. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: I rather think it is. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: ...I guess I want to be a hero again. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: I want to get back home to my family. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: I thought this was your family? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: I have a husband. Well, ex-husband. And a daughter. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: What are their names? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Felicity</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, that’s not on topic. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: It wouldn’t kill you to be kind once in a while. Vigilantes can have hearts.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: The last time you were kind, you let Five escape. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: That wasn’t my fault. He was a conniving son of a bitch. What are their names? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: Her name is Claire. She’s everything to me. Patrick can go die in a hole. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: Why do you want to get back to him if you think that?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: So I can tell him that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Uh… me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Why do you guys keep asking that? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Well, I can’t speak for the others but nobody ever asks me what I want. I want waffles. And I want to be in a quiet place where I can try and summon my dead lover in peace. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: Tell us a little more about her?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: He’s a him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: How do you know?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Klaus told me about him. His name was Dave, right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Yeah.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Why can’t you conjure him?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus: The summoning thing doesn’t always work, okay?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Let's move on. </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>Cisco</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>, next question?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: I want my family safe. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Yeah, but what about, like, after that?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: ...after?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Yeah. You got any plans? Any dreams to follow?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: I don’t know. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: Why not? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Nobody ever… asked me that. ‘Cept Hazel. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Hazel?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: A friend. I don’t know. I guess... I’d like to get a drink with Luther and Klaus. Practice fighting with Diego again. Maybe… I don’t know. Have some tea with Vanya and share stories about our fucked-up lives. Play chess with Ben and have him… beat me like he always does. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*editor’s note: he started crying here. And these were real tears, not like the ones he can fake. I know the difference. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: Shit… fuckin’ hormones… Jesus Christ. What kind of pain meds did you put me on? Jesus. Agh. Next question?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Everything. Absolutely everything. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: What do you mean by that?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: I was dead. I’m not now, and I can do everything I ever wanted to. Well, once I get out of here, that is. And I do. Want to do everything. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: What do I want? That’s an odd question.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: Why is that an odd question?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Well, why does it matter?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: ...could you tell us anyway?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I can try. Um… I want to live on a farm. And play my violin for my brothers and sister.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 2: Why?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Well I can’t imagine anybody hurting anybody on a farm. </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>( :</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Interrogation 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yeah, I know. this shit again.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Question: Tell us your story.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: I was the last one to leave the academy. And not by choice. There was an accident, and I ended up… like this.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: With gorilla blood. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Yeah. Um. My dad, he sent me to the moon. To ‘watch for threats’ as he put it. It was a load of bullshit. I spent four years up there for nothing, and I only came back because of his funeral. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: He died?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Yeah. Like a month or two ago, but we only had the funeral ten days ago. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: That sucks, man. I’m sorry. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luther Hargreeves: It’s fine. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: What kind of bullshit question is that?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 6: What’s wrong with it?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: My story? Why the fuck do you need to know that?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Stop swearing. Why do you people do that so much?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: We just want to know more about you all specifically. It seems like you all are very different, and your story will show us… well, what to do with you, basically. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Fine. Okay, whatever. I left the academy at 18, never looked back. Stayed in the same city, got a job at the store and tried to become a police officer. That failed for a little while, I got a string of different jobs, tried again at the police officer thing, got almost there, and then became a vigilante. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 4: Why didn’t you stick with the police officer thing?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: Too much red tape. There’s also a lot of assholes in the police department. Racist shits that never get reported. The only reason I even went back was because… well, because of Eudora. Patch. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Who’s that?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: We dated. It was complicated. She got shot and died last week. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: Holy shit this has been a weird week for you guys. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Diego Hargreeves: You don’t know the half of it, buddy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Allison Hargreeves: I left the academy at 23. I became an actress, using my powers to get auditions. I’m not proud of that anymore. I got really famous, and really good, and I got married and I have a daughter. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: All of it? The whole shebang?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 1: The whole shebang. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Buckle up kids, it’s storytime. Okay so imagine me as a kid. Gangly as hell, smoking since fourteen, hating the whole house. Left when I was nineteen, year or so after Diego. I was homeless for a couple months before finding a job at Wendy’s and an apartment with four roommates. Then, you know, drugs. Rehab. More drugs. Rehab again. Even more drugs, oh-there’s a lot of alcohol all screwed up in there. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Could you get to the point?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: You asked me for my life story, dude. But I concede the point. Alright so on my way back from rehab the last time I heard my dad had, y’know, offed himself. Well, we didn’t know he’d offed himself at the time. Then the funeral, and then Five came back and a whole bunch of shit happened. I got tortured. I died. Got sober, which sucks. Went back in time. Fought in ‘nam. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: What?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: That’s the part of this crazy life you object to? Wait’ll I tell you about Pogo. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Five Hargreeves: I literally just told you my life story. You all have a lot of repeat questions. Next. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: I went to the academy. Then I died. And then I followed Klaus around for the next like 15 years. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 3: Were there teachers at the academy? Professors?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Nope. Our mom, a robot our father made, had a combat mode so we practiced with her. Well, everyone else did. I didn’t really… need any training. Neither did Vanya, or so we thought. We played chess and read Shakespeare while they trained. Dad taught us math and languages. We can all speak at least five languages and read at least four, though I think Diego and Klaus have forgotten most of them. I can speak eight and read twelve, though I’m a little shaky on my French. Pogo taught us about science and outer space. I think that’s where Luther got the idea that he wanted to go to space. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Interrogator 5: Pogo… who’s Pogo? Klaus mentioned him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ben Hargreeves: He was like our butler. No, more of an uncle. No, more of a… I don’t know. An older friend? Psychologist? He’s hard to explain. He died recently. Oh, but you probably don’t care about that. He was an ape. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: What?</span>
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    <span>Ben Hargreeves: An ape. Dad created him. Never told us why, just that he was important. I think he was the closest thing Reginald had to a friend.</span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Oh. Um. I went to the academy until I was eighteen, moved out and tried out for various orchestras. I was third chair for a while, second chair, third chair. I was a tutor? Is that important?</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: Anything, really. </span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: Okay. And then, about two weeks ago, dad died and... I don't know. It's all complicated. Five came back. I discovered my powers. The world... ended. Then. We're here now. And, I dunno. I think I actually like this world a little better than ours. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: Why?</span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I think everyone in our family needs a fresh start. Klaus without drugs, Five without an apocalypse, Allison without rumors... me without... I don't know. Everything. </span>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Interrogation 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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    <span>*editor’s note: the following questions were asked to only certain individuals, though we asked two for each to get different perspectives and filter out half-truths. </span>
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    <span>Question (Allison Hargreeves and Five Hargreeves): How did you get here?</span>
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    <span>Allison Hargreeves: I don’t know exactly.</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 2: </span>
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    <span>Caitlyn</span>
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    <span>, is that a lie?</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 4: No. I don’t think so. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: Could you tell us as best you can, the circumstances of your arrival. </span>
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    <span>Allison Hargreeves: I think Five has the best answer to that. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: No. We want you. </span>
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    <span>Allison Hargreeves: We were running from an explosion. The apocalypse. And Five tried to time travel us back so we could stop it and… this happened. We’re here now. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 4: That was the truth.</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: How can he time travel?</span>
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    <span>Allison: I don’t know. He just can. Not very well, though. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: Interesting. </span>
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    <span>Five Hargreeves: I tried to warp time to get back to two weeks ago… well, our two weeks ago. To try to prevent the apocalypse. Instead I probably warped dimensions, which I’ve never done before. It sort of felt like sliding sideways instead of laterally like time travel feels like. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: Your story matches with Allison’s. </span>
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    <span>Five Hargreeves: It should. It’s the truth. </span>
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    <span>Question (Luther Hargreeves and Klaus Hargreeves): Describe your sibling’s powers in detail. </span>
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    <span>*editor’s note: despite asking them about their specific powers, we asked them this to see if any of them had different abilities connected to the ones above, like Five’s time travel. </span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: I have super strength, like I said. That’s why I’m Number One. The leader. Anything Diego throws will land where he wants it to, and he can manipulate the direction of other objects in the air. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 2: That’s a really good description of it. </span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Yeah. We trained a lot together. Allison can rumor anyone to do anything. Klaus can see and talk to dead people. And make them appear, apparently. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: “I see dead people.”</span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: What?</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: Sixth Sense? Bruce Willis? Nevermind. </span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Five can manipulate time and space, space better than time. Ben has a portal through his chest that has... creatures in them. I don’t know. Dad tried to send a drone into it to see what’s in there and it died after about a minute, so we don’t really know. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 5: Does he have control over them?</span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: I mean, kind of? They don’t just jump out at random, if that’s what you mean. But he can’t control the tentacles individually. Not yet, anyway. He did only have fourteen years of training. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: And Vanya?</span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: When she gets angry, shit blows up. She just discovered her powers so there’s not a lot we know. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: But you all grew up together?</span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: It’s complicated. Our dad… hid her powers from us. From her, even. It was messed up, and… well, we just found out. Like a week ago. Anyway, we’re the Umbrella Academy. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: Hence the tats?</span>
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    <span>Luther Hargreeves: Oh. Yeah. </span>
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    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Luther’s got super strength. And ape skin. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: What?</span>
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    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Don’t ask. Or do, whatever. Diego throws shit. Allison can make people do stuff. I commune with the dead, which, let me tell you, is not the joy ride it seems. Five teleports. And time travels, though he’s shit at it. Hence why we’re here. Anyway. Ben can summon eldritch horrors through his stomach, and Vanya like… resonates sound to make stuff blow up? Or also float? I don’t know, we just figured this out like a week ago. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: Awesome. Thank you. </span>
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    <span>Question (Klaus Hargreeves and Vanya Hargreeves): What was the cause of the apocalypse?</span>
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    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Asteroid impact. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 4: That was the truth, but it was a little shaky. Could you say it again?</span>
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    <span>Klaus Hargreeves: Asteroid impact. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 4: Perfect, thank you. </span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: ...it was me. Five doesn’t want me to tell you, but it was me. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: What? Klaus said it was an asteroid impact. </span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: It was. I… lost control. Luther had done some things and Diego and Allison had said some things and I lost control.</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: What specifically did you do?</span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: I was about to… kill my siblings and Allison fired a gun right near my ear. I get my power from sound and it was too much and I sent a beam of… something… at the moon and it crashed to the earth. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: Wow. That’s insane. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 6: That sounds horrible. I’m so sorry. </span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: You’re sorry? I just killed seven billion people! I’m sorry! </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 6: Hey. I know what it’s like to be an outsider in your own home. It’s horrible. I’m sorry that happened to you and your family. </span>
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    <span>Vanya Hargreeves: That… means a lot. Thank you. </span>
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    <span>Question (Five Hargreeves and Ben Hargreeves): Were you superheroes? How did you get your powers?</span>
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    <span>Five Hargreeves: Yes, we were superheroes as children. Of a sort. Powered people are less common on our Earth, so we were more of a novelty than anything. Then everyone grew apart as adults. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: You became an assassin. </span>
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    <span>Five Hargreeves: Not by choice, but yes. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 3: Powers?</span>
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    <span>Five Hargreeves: We got our powers because of a freak incident. On the first of October, 1989, 43 women around the Earth gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric millionaire, decided to buy these babies. He got seven of them. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 2: And those were you?</span>
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    <span>Five Hargreeves: And those were us. </span>
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    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Oh, yeah! We fought stuff all the time. Went on ‘missions’ as Dad called them. I hated them, but Diego and Luther loved it. How did we get our powers? It’s a mystery, still. Just a freak act of nature.</span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: Could you go into detail? About how you got them? Did they just show up one day or-</span>
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    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Sure. On the first of October, 1989, 43 women around the Earth gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric millionaire, decided to buy these babies. He got seven of them. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 2: That’s really similar to what Five said. </span>
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    <span>Interrogator 1: No, no, look here. That is exactly what Five said, verbatim. </span>
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    <span>Ben Hargreeves: Pogo and Mom repeated it so much it just kind of stuck. Seared into our brains, I guess. </span>
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